


All About Us

by enbyred



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Aged Up, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Ballet, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, HELLO i'm back, Romance, Slow Burn, to early college age, with a Very Specific AU that caters only to me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2020-03-13
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:47:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 43,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21965923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enbyred/pseuds/enbyred
Summary: When their mom's work schedule changes, Callum is stuck driving Ezran to tap dance classes from now on. But when he meets one of the ballet teachers, he finds that maybe this is a good thing.
Relationships: Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince)
Comments: 787
Kudos: 1402





	1. Take It In

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter titles/fic title based off [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnLE_2txSIA)

Driving Ezran to his dance class when he could have been doing something more productive with his time wasn’t Callum’s ideal way of spending a Tuesday evening. But as they were already on their way to the studio, he didn’t really have much of a choice.

“How long’s your class, again?” Callum questioned.

“An hour,” came Ezran’s reply. Before Callum could sigh, Ez cut him off. “It’s _just_ an hour. There are some that go longer. Put in your headphones and draw something, and you won’t even know how much time’s passed.”

If the studio was closer, then Callum wouldn’t have bothered to stay for the hour. But, to his chagrin, it wasn’t worth it to drive Ez to class, go home, and have to leave to pick him up minutes later. He could attempt to find a quiet corner of the studio so he could draw, but there was no telling if that would be possible or not.

When they arrived, Ezran was excitedly bouncing inside the studio before Callum had turned the car off. He let out a chuckle and followed behind at his own pace, appreciating the early September air.

By the time he walked through the doors, Ezran was already out of sight, probably in his classroom, ready for class, leaving Callum alone to navigate the sitting area. All he needed to do was find a quiet corner that wasn’t populated with dance moms, kids, or kids’ things.

Which seemed to be nowhere.

Moms were gathered on one side of the room, and there were cubbies for kids’ things opposite them. Dance bags, shoes, toys, and various articles of street clothing were tossed haphazardly _near_ the cubbies, but few things actually made it inside. The rest of the sitting area space was populated by kids. Some were preparing for classes, some just got out of classes, and some were waiting for siblings, playing on the floor or running around with friends.

Maybe the car would be a good place to wait. He could sit with the windows open and focus on drawing.

Just as Callum turned around, a classroom door burst open, and kids flooded out of the room in every direction. In an attempt to clear the way for children who had no regard for anything or anyone in their paths, Callum took a step to the side, only to find that there was a kid running directly where he meant to step.

The next thing he knew, he was on the cold tile.

The car was definitely a good plan.

“Zym!” he heard a voice call. The kid that had tripped him - a little boy, no older than four - skidded to a stop and turned, running back to whoever had called him. Given his returning to the classroom doorway, he assumed it was the dance teacher. As Callum picked himself up off the ground, he heard the teacher gently scold the boy, “You need to be careful and look where you’re going. You made that nice man fall down. Can you go apologize?”

Callum looked up to see Zym trotting back toward him, gazing up with gigantic blue eyes to say, “Sorry, mister. Are you okay?”

With a smile, Callum replied, “I’m okay, buddy. Thanks for checking.”

Zym offered a large, toothy grin before scampering off to his mother.

“You’d think class would tire them out,” the Scottish voice of the dance teacher said, suddenly much closer to him. “But nope, I think they have _more_ energy after I’m done with them.”

He chuckled and turned to reply, but the moment he saw her, all of the words in his mind left him. He wasn’t sure what he expected, but she definitely wasn’t it.

The young woman before him couldn’t have been much older than he was, and she was about his height. She was lithe, wearing a green leotard with a skirt, white tights, and ballet slippers. But the most prominent feature about her was her hair. It was pure white, tied back in a messy bun, with a few pieces falling around her face. There was a smirk on her lips, and she was looking at him with an almost playful expression, a glint in her violet eyes.

A second too late, he realized he’d been staring too long, when her eyebrow went up and expression changed from playful to annoyed.

“S-sorry,” Callum muttered, tearing his gaze away. “You just caught me off guard.”

He heard her sigh, then chuckle as she shook her head. “It’s fine, the hair sometimes surprises people.” Nodding to the children, she asked, “Is one of ‘em yours?”

“Wh-” Looking at the kids, he let her question sink in before jumping to exclaim, “No! No, no, none of them are mine, my little brother’s tap class is just starting, I just have to drive him now.”

The dance teacher snorted. “Okay! No need to wear yourself out explaining yourself to me. Who’s your brother? Maybe I know him.”

“Probably,” Callum replied, forcing himself to relax. “His name is Ezran.”

She clapped her hands together, a smile spreading across her face. “Ezran! He sometimes assistant teaches that class that just got out. He’s my favorite student here, by far.” Nudging him with her elbow, she commented, “You lucked out with him as your brother.”

“Yeah.” He grinned, his eyes drifting to the door of Ezran’s classroom as it closed for class to begin. “Yeah, I really did.”

She took a few steps away and waved for him to come into her classroom with her. “That means you must be Callum. Ezran talks about you.”

Oh. _Oh._

“Uh - yeah.” He nearly tripped over his own feet trying to follow her into the classroom.

“Sorry,” she said, turning back to him. “I assumed that you didn’t want to spend the hour with the dance moms, right?” He nodded before she told him, “I have this hour free, so you can avoid them in here while you wait for Ez.”

His heart was pounding as he said, “Oh, um, thanks,” and she closed the door.

As she sat down by a computer in the corner, she told him, “We don’t have to talk to each other if you don’t want. I see you brought something to do,” and gestured to his sketchbook.

He had fully planned on drawing to pass the time. It was guaranteed to make him feel like much less time had passed, and he needed to work on a piece that had been commissioned to him. But now that he was here, in a quiet room, and being offered the space to draw…

There was an extra chair on the other side of the computer, and he took it, opening his sketchbook. He put his pencil on the page, but couldn’t move it. His attention kept drifting to the girl behind the computer, focused on something he couldn’t see. Her eyebrows were knit together in concentration. She had only just sat down, and already seemed to be deeply focused on whatever she was working on. Callum had to say he was impressed that she could already be so concentrated on something after just sitting down a minute before.

So...since she was doing her own thing, she probably expected him to draw instead of talk to her. Despite inviting him in and telling him how much she loved Ezran.

She probably wouldn’t mind conversation in that case, right? If she needed to not be bothered, she would have let him wait out in the sitting area or in the car. Right?

Right.

Callum gathered his courage and asked, “So, uh...what’s your name?”

“Oh!” Her head popped up and she lowered the screen of the laptop. “It’s Rayla. I knew who you are, so I didn’t think to introduce myself.”

“That’s fine,” he rushed. “Since our mom usually drives Ez, she’s the one who knows everyone’s names. I’ve never really had the chance to learn them, so…”

Rayla grinned. “Yeah, Sarai knows everyone here. When I first started, she was determined to befriend me, just because I was a face she hadn’t seen here before. She keeps the dance moms in line. Hence why you _really_ want to be in here instead of hanging out with them.”

With a chuckle, Callum said, “Hanging out with dance moms isn’t my first choice for entertainment anyway.”

“It isn’t _anyone’s_.” 

“Except maybe other dance moms.”

“Fair,” Rayla laughed. “Speaking of Sarai, can I ask why she didn’t drive Ez this week?”

Nodding, Callum explained, “Her work schedule changed. She works late on Tuesdays now, and our dad teaches a class, so I’m the only one free to take him anymore.”

“So it looks like I’ll be seeing more of you, huh?” Rayla joked. She turned a bit of her attention back to her computer screen, tapping a few things out.

He resisted the urge to peek over at her screen, and instead questioned, “Can I know what you’re working on?”

She shrugged. “It’s a music piece. I’m choreographing a dance routine to it for a competition I’ll be in in December, and I’m just trying to make sure the choreography fits well with the music.”

“Oh, cool!” Callum couldn’t say that he knew much about dancing, let alone competing, but he couldn’t imagine it was easy. “Should I let you focus on that?”

With a small nod, her expression changed to focus in on the screen again. “Yeah, I just...need a couple minutes to look it over, then I’ll be free to talk.”

“Sure.” He turned his attention back to the blank page in front of him. It was hard to work on a commission when his brain and hand didn’t want to cooperate. Time was already getting short for this piece, but he couldn’t even get himself to put his pencil on the page.

Sighing, Callum ghosted the graphite across the paper, trying to make any sort of picture come out of it. Working on _something_ was better than working on nothing, even if it wasn’t what he was supposed to be doing. Once he broke through this art block, the first thing he would do would be that commission.

The shapes on the page quickly took the form of Ezran. He’d done plenty of other drawings like it. The same curves of his hair. The same grin almost too big for his fourteen-year-old face. The same joyful glint in his eye. It was always fun to draw Ezran’s abundance of joy, but, like an itch he couldn’t quite scratch, Callum knew that this wasn’t what he needed to get himself drawing more again. If only he could figure out what it was that would break him out of his funk.

“Okay.” Rayla closed the computer. “I can test out the choreography after my classes.” She peeked over at the sketchbook. “Oh, is that Ez?” Callum shifted the sketchbook so she could get a better look at it. After taking a few more moments to look at it than Callum thought was strictly necessary, she whispered, “Wow. You’re really good. Ezran mentioned you’re an artist, but I didn’t expect you to be _that_ good.”

He felt heat creeping up his neck, and ducked his head. “I, uh...I’ve been applying to art schools. I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember. There’s one school a couple states over that offers a program focused on fine art and graphic design, but it’s really selective, so...I didn’t get in for this semester, but I’m trying for next.” He bit his tongue. She didn’t need to know that. They’d only just met.

The expression on her face looked like she took his statement as a personal offense. “What do you _mean_ you didn’t get in? You did that sketch in what, twenty minutes? It’s amazing!”

“It’s fine!” he covered up with a smile. “It just encourages me to improve and try again!” Before she could protest again, he asked, “What about you? You’re a competitive dancer?”

“Yeah. Been doing ballet for as long as I can remember, but I’ve never gotten first in a competition.” Callum couldn’t tell if her expression morphed into determined or angry. Maybe both? “But I will. One day, I’m going to _destroy_ that stupid-” She cut herself off and took a breath. “I...consistently get second place to the same person. But I plan to change that.”

“You will.” It was too late to take it back by the time Callum realized what he was saying. He’d never seen her dance before. And even if he had, who was he to tell her that she would win? He didn’t know the first thing about dancing, much less competitive ballet.

Still, Rayla smiled at him. “Thanks, Callum. I’ve got plenty of time to prepare, so I’m going to make the most of it and finally win.” She glanced at her phone and sighed, standing. “Just about time for the next class.”

Surprised, Callum looked at the time on his own phone. Had it been an hour already?

Rayla opened the door, where a couple of six-year-olds were bouncing, waiting to be let in. She high-fived them as they ran in, then looked at Callum and gestured to the door, telling him, “I think you’ve got a brother to drive home.”

“Y-yeah.” Callum stood and stepped out of the room. Before heading to find Ezran, he turned and said, “Thanks, Rayla. For letting me hang out with you. It was nice.”

With a smirk, she replied, “Not a problem. You weren’t terrible company yourself. And since Sarai’s working at the center on Tuesdays now, I guess I’ll be seeing you next week.”

He couldn’t help but smile. “I’ll see you next week.”

He waved goodbye to her and stepped away (careful not to trip over any children) to find Ezran. Though, he didn’t have to look very far, as his brother materialized in front of him, street shoes on his feet and tucking his tap shoes into his dance bag.

“Oh good,” Callum commented. “You’re ready to go?”

“Yeah, I’ve got to go home and do homework. It should be illegal to assign homework in the first two weeks of the school year.” Zipping his bag, he groaned and started toward the door, waving to Rayla as she continued ushering kids into the classroom.

Stepping out into the evening air, Callum replied, “That’s the one good thing about not being in any school this semester. At least I don’t have homework.” He unlocked the door, and they both climbed inside.

He barely had the keys in the ignition when Ezran turned on him. “Did you already know Rayla?”

Callum raised an eyebrow. “No? I met her tonight.”

Leaning closer, Ezran prodded, “You just met her tonight? And you were hanging out in her classroom?”

“It was mostly small talk, don’t read too much into it,” Callum told him, rolling his eyes. “She saved me from having to deal with dance moms. For most of the time, she was working on a dance piece, and I was sketching.”

“Mhm.” Like he was trying to sound innocent, Ezran asked, “And did you get her number? Because if you didn’t, I have it. If you want it.”

“I told you not to read into it. We didn’t exchange numbers, we just talked for a bit, that’s it. Besides, you’re trying to set me up with someone way out of my league.” She was easily one of the prettiest people Callum had ever seen, and talented, and funny. And that was exactly why it was never going to work if he tried to date her.

But that was alright. She was a cool person, and he didn’t need to date her to enjoy being around her. They could just be friends, and he would be perfectly happy with that.

Despite Ezran’s moping that he wasn’t jumping at the chance to date Rayla, he silently started to thank his mother for working Tuesdays. It meant that he really would be able to see her again next week.


	2. Would You Let Me Lead?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayla comes home after work and checks Instagram. She finds someone to DM.

Climbing out of her car, Rayla grabbed her things and headed toward the front entrance. She turned the knob and kicked the door open, shouting, “I’M HOME!”

Ethari, who was sitting in the living room with Runaan, visible from the front door, closed his eyes and sighed. “Do you have to do that every time?”

“Yes,” she replied, closing the door and inhaling deeply. “Mm, whatever you had for dinner, it smells good.” She kicked off her shoes and headed to the kitchen.

“Leftovers are in the fridge,” Ethari called after her.

“I know the drill,” she replied, dropping her dance bag and proceeding to rummage around in the fridge for whatever she could put on a plate and throw in the microwave. The biggest downside to working her shift was that she was always  _ starving _ when she got home. But it was worth it to wait for Ethari’s cooking.

The moment the microwave finished heating her food, she grabbed her plate and a fork, then trotted to the living room to curl up in the recliner.

“How was work?” Ethari asked as Runaan paused whatever it was they were watching.

With a grin, Rayla replied, “It was good! I made a friend,” and shoved a forkful of food into her mouth.

“A friend?” One of Runaan’s eyebrows went up. Okay, she knew she wasn’t the most friendly person in the world, but she doubted that so much surprise from him was strictly necessary. “What’s her name?”

“His,” Rayla corrected, her mouth full. She swallowed. “Callum. Older brother of Ezran, my favorite student. I forgot to get his number, but it looks like he’ll be driving Ezran from now on, so I’ll be seeing him again. He’s really sweet.”

Nodding, Runaan prompted, “And how much progress did you make on your routine? You were going to work on it today, right?”

She kept her eyes trained on her plate and chose her words carefully. “I...have the whole thing  _ mapped _ . I didn’t physically go through it today to see if it all works, but it’s fine! I have enough free time at work to be able to practice. It’s not like I’ll spend all my free time hanging out with Callum now. Ezran only comes in once a week, anyway.”

Upon glancing up, Rayla saw Runaan and Ethari exchange a brief look. She recognized the expression in Runaan’s face. He made that face every time there was something in her life toward which he could possibly feel the slightest suspicion. Despite the fact that she had yet to date anyone, he seemed to think that she would fall head over heels for anyone who came along. But she had a running streak of proving him wrong.

As soon as she finished eating, Rayla stuck her plate into the dishwasher and retreated to her room with the excuse of having homework due in the morning. As though she actually cared about community college business math. Runaan and Ethari had been insisting that she needed to not rule college out of her future; she really was only in the class to pacify them. 

She flopped down on her bed, deciding that math homework could wait a little longer, and unlocked her phone to scroll through Instagram for a few minutes. Most of her feed tended to be dance-related, with a few posts from friends sprinkled in. 

The post that caught her eye enough to stop her from scrolling further was a picture Ezran posted earlier that afternoon. A selfie of himself and Callum, grinning at the camera, with the caption “This idiot didn’t know the difference between a shuffle and a scuffle. Love him so much.” She let out a chuckle, allowing herself to look at the picture for a few moments longer. Callum looked so much more relaxed in the picture with his brother than he had been in her classroom that evening. It was understandable; they just met, and he was in an environment he wasn’t comfortable with. But seeing his carefree grin as he hung out with his brother was more than enough to give her hope that he could relax around her and they could become friends.

Before she continued scrolling, she noticed that Ezran tagged Callum in the photo. She tapped on his handle to go to his page, and was immediately flooded with pictures of his family, people who she assumed were some of his friends, and dozens of drawings, every one as amazing as the last. He left most drawings uncolored, but when he did use colors, the picture came to life that much more. How an art school had  _ rejected _ him, she would never know. 

She recognized a few of the people in the pictures, she realized - Sarai, and who Rayla assumed was Callum and Ezran’s dad. There were several artsy pictures of a girl with long black hair, and a few goofy ones of a blond guy who looked familiar. Rayla could swear that he was in her math class. There were only a few selfies or pictures of Callum on his page. It was sweet that he was so focused on people around him.

Speaking of math, she needed to get on that.

With a sigh, Rayla tapped the follow button and locked her phone, digging her math book out from under her bed. There weren’t too many problems, so it didn’t take more than a half hour to get them all done. A more thorough student would check her answers to make sure it was done right. Rayla, on the other hand, tossed the book back down onto the floor once she was done.

She picked her phone back up, met with a notification that Callum followed her back. She grinned to herself and opened up a DM.

_ [Rayla (10:09pm)] hey! thanks for hanging out with me earlier. the company was nice _

She didn’t expect a quick response. It was late, after all. He had a life.

Yet it was only a minute later that he replied.

_ [Callum (10:10pm)] I should be thanking you! Without you, I would’ve been at the mercy of dance moms. _

_ [Rayla (10:10pm)] sdlkfjs i wouldnt subject anyone to that. youre lucky zym tripped you and i noticed you were there. that was the only way for me to save you _

_ [Callum (10:11pm)] Right haha I should thank the little kid for helping me make a friend. _

_ [Rayla (10:11pm)] zym would be thrilled to hear that he helped create a friendship _

_ [Rayla (10:13pm)] btw i was looking at your pics and im starting to think you lied about not getting into art school bc youre seriously skilled _

_ [Rayla (10:13pm)] also whos your blond friend, i think hes in my math class? _

_ [Callum (10:16pm)] That’s Soren! I grew up with him and his sister Claudia. He did mention that he started taking a math class at KCC. Funny that you’re in the same class! _

_ [Rayla (10:16pm)] lmao i mean i dont pay attention and i saw him playing table football with a classmate so you can really only loosely say that wer’e in class together _

_ [Callum (10:17pm)] Yup, that’s definitely Soren. _

_ [Rayla (10:18pm)] ok but can we talk about your art?? bc its incredible _

_ [Callum (10:21pm)] Msdfsdmlf thank you! _

_ [Callum (10:22pm)] I’m getting my portfolio together for when I can apply to that college again. _

_ [Callum (10:22pm)] Would you mind if I do a drawing of you dancing to include in my portfolio? _

Rayla blinked at her phone. She rubbed her eyes. But the words on the screen stayed. That certainly wasn’t what she was expecting out of him, especially given how nervous he had been. It wasn’t a bad surprise, by any means. But it was a surprise nonetheless.

Once she recovered, she managed to formulate a text back.

_ [Rayla (10:26pm)] yeah thats fine! im sure youve seen that there are plenty of pics of my competitions on my insta. you can use any of em for reference if you want _

_ [Callum (10:31pm)] Thanks! It’ll be my starring piece! _

Locking her phone, Rayla rolled onto her back to stare up at the ceiling. Nobody had ever asked to draw her before. It wasn’t like she had a lot of artist friends in the first place. But the thought of this new person drawing her because...she looked interesting? Because dancing is fun to draw? Because who could tell, her stomach did a flip.

If he was going to be flattering her all the time, Rayla wasn’t sure how well this friendship would work out. She might lose her cool too soon and dissolve into a puddle if he kept complimenting her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy new year, have a chapter!!


	3. Don't Know What's Got Into Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum panics after asking to draw Rayla, and asks for advice.

Oh, no.

No. No, no, no, no no.

He had  _ not _ just asked her that.

He hardly knew her. He just met her earlier that evening. Asking to draw her right off the bat was not the ideal way to make friends. She was going to think he was creepy. She wouldn’t want to talk to him again. 

She hadn’t responded yet. Either she never would, or she was going to tell him that maybe they shouldn’t be friends after all. With one question, he’d just ruined  _ everything _ .

Her icon appeared as she typed, and his heart raced as he waited for a reply.

The icon disappeared. He groaned, knocking his head against the back of the couch.

A minute later, his phone buzzed with a message, and he nearly threw it across the room in an attempt to unlock it.

_ [Rayla (10:26pm)] yeah thats fine! im sure youve seen that there are plenty of pics of my competitions on my insta. you can use any of em for reference if you want _

A yes. That was a yes. If she had just written him off as a creep, she wasn’t doing a good job of showing it, or of distancing herself. She was okay with it. He received permission to draw her. Now he had to follow through. She would be expecting a drawing now. But Callum never drew people he didn’t know well. It simply wasn’t something that he ever thought to do when he wasn’t close to the person. He would share most of his drawings online, of course, but to actually draw someone felt so much more...intimate than most people would think. And now he was locked into drawing someone who was practically still a stranger. Where was he even supposed to start? Didn’t he have to get to know her beforehand? Get a feel for her personality and style?

There wouldn’t be any time for that. He would have to wing it and hope for the best.

_ [Callum (10:31pm)] Thanks! It’ll be my starring piece! _

Groaning again, he scrubbed a hand over his face. Not only was he promising her a drawing, but he was promising her that it would be one of his best. The hole he was digging was only getting deeper.

His fingers shook as he held his phone. Even worse than knowing he had to draw someone he hardly knew, a part of his mind was certain that drawing Rayla would help get him back into the swing of drawing. But was that even okay to do? Would he just be using her to break his art block, instead of getting to know her and figuring out a different way to get himself drawing again?

He needed to talk this out with someone. Someone needed to talk sense into him.

Mentally counting off fingers, he listed people in his head. He couldn’t talk to Ezran about this. No matter how vague he kept it, Ez would immediately know that he was talking about Rayla, and then he would never let it go. There would be unending ‘I-told-you-so’s with no regard to the fact that this was about drawing, not dating.

Both of his parents were great with situations like this. Callum knew that his mom in particular would know exactly what to say to talk him down. But even if he did want to drag her away from the teens at the resource center, she usually didn’t look at her phone at work anyway, even when she worked until midnight like tonight. And his dad was already asleep; he wasn’t about to wake him up over something like this.

Callum unlocked his phone and scrolled through his contacts, opening up a message to Soren.

_ [Callum (10:42pm)] Hey Soren, do you have a minute to give me some advice? _

_ [Soren (10:43pm)] My dude, i’ve always got a minute for you _

_ [Soren (10:43pm)] How can i help _

_ [Callum (10:44pm)] So I met this girl tonight. _

_ [Callum (10:44pm)] And she’s really cool, I liked hanging out with her. _

_ [Callum (10:44pm)] But I think I crossed one of my own lines, and I don’t know what to do. _

_ [Soren (10:45pm)] Ok i’m gonna stop you there _

_ [Soren (10:45pm)] You know that i’m literally like _

_ [Soren (10:45pm)] The Worst person to ask, right? _

_ [Callum (10:46pm)] Thought it was worth a shot. I’ll ask Claudia. _

_ [Soren (10:46pm)] Good call _

He should’ve known not to ask him. What would Soren know, anyway? Claudia was going to be much better with advice, but much more likely to ask questions and assume that he was crushing on Rayla.

He bit the bullet.

_ [Callum (10:48pm)] Hey Clauds, can I ask for some advice? _

_ [Claudia (10:48pm)] Soren tells me you’re having girl problems ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) _

_ [Callum (10:49pm)] Kind of. But not the kind you’re thinking of. _

_ [Claudia (10:49pm)] I want to know everything _

_ [Claudia (10:49pm)] Oh. nvm. What kind of girl problems, then? _

_ [Callum (10:50pm)] I just met her tonight, and she’s really cool. We talked about what she does, and I told her I’m trying to get into art school. But, uh… _

_ [Callum (10:50pm)] You know how I don’t draw people unless I know them really well? _

_ [Claudia (10:51pm)] I am aware, yes _

_ [Callum (10:52pm)] Well, I asked if I could draw her. And she said yes. _

_ [Claudia (10:55pm)] Wait, is that the whole problem? _

_ [Callum (10:55pm)] Yes? _

_ [Claudia (10:55pm)] ( ಠ◡ಠ ) _

_ [Claudia (10:56pm)] She said yes. Where’s the problem? _

_ [Callum (10:57pm)] Isn’t it weird? Like, I hardly know her. Now she’s expecting me to do an amazing drawing of her, and isn’t the whole thing just… _

_ [Callum (10:57pm)] Weird? _

_ [Claudia (10:58pm)] No, Callum, it’s not weird _

_ [Claudia (10:59pm)] You told her you’re trying to get into art school, so she knows you’re an artist. She told you it was okay. If she thought it was weird, she wouldn’t’ve said yes ＼(●~▽~●) _

_ [Claudia (10:59pm)] You can relax. It’s not like you’re some intimidating guy she felt like she had to say yes to _

_ [Callum (11:01pm)] Right. Okay. I have to trust that she would set that boundary. _

_ [Claudia (11:01pm)] Exactly. I know it’s unfamiliar territory for you to draw someone you’re not close to, but you also wouldn’t’ve asked if you didn’t want the experience of drawing her _

_ [Claudia (11:02pm)] Plus it’s not like you can’t get to know her after doing the drawing _

_ [Callum (11:06pm)] Yeah. I guess you’re right. It’s just one drawing, and I do have the opportunity to get to know her better. It’s not like she’s a total stranger. _

_ [Claudia (11:07pm)] That’s right!! _

_ [Claudia (11:07pm)] Now go forth, my apprentice, and get laid (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ _

_ [Callum (11:08pm)] SlskdfSLGK IT’S NOT LIKE THAT. _

_ [Claudia (11:08pm)] I’m rooting for you either way ∩(︶▽︶)∩ _

With a sigh, Callum closed out of their conversation and opened Instagram again to go to Rayla’s page and choose a picture for reference. There were plenty of pictures from competitions, just like she said. The competition that caught his eye, however, must have been her most recent one.

Her hair was up in a perfect bun, not a messy one like she had been sporting earlier. She wore a soft pink dress, the skirt a layered sheer material that reached down to her knees. When he happened upon a short video of her dancing, he ignored his skipped heartbeat and watched it. As he expected, her skirt moved easily with her. What he didn’t expect was the amount of pure  _ joy _ on her face as she danced. He didn’t know much about dancing, but he did know that ballet was precise and incredibly difficult. Yet she made it look effortless, dancing more from her spirit than from her body. He had seen the concentration it took to just look over the music for choreography, and could only imagine how much more concentration it took to perform the piece. But there she was, making her precise, calculated movements look like they were simply the overflow of joy that her body couldn’t hold within her.

He couldn’t suppress a grin. Even if he wasn’t close to her yet, at least he could get to know her a little bit by seeing things like this.

...Right, he was supposed to be looking for a reference picture.

Taking a breath, he scrolled slowly through her pictures, trying to decide on one to use. He managed to narrow it down to two potential options when he heard the rustling of someone entering the living room. Faster than he ever had before, he closed Instagram and opened something else -  _ anything _ else (which happened to be the calculator, which was not  _ at all _ helpful) - before someone could see him lurking on Rayla’s Instagram.

“Jumpy much?” Ezran teased, sitting on the couch with him. “I was just going to complain about the education system and that I want Chinese food, but if you need a few minutes to crunch those numbers before you’re ready, I can go raid the fridge and come back in a bit.”

Callum rolled his eyes. “I was just...trying to figure out how many days I have to get my portfolio together before applications are due. And we can get Chinese tomorrow, since Mom and Dad work late again.”

His eyes lit up. “Really?”

With a shrug, Callum picked his sketchbook up from the floor and opened it to the drawing he had done of Ezran earlier that day. “Why not? Consider it a reward for getting through your first week back at school with a screwed up educational system.”

Grinning, Ezran peeked at the page in Callum’s lap. “Me again!” He elbowed Callum and said, “You know, if you need a new muse, I’m sure Rayla would be willing to-”

“Let it go, Ez,” Callum cut him off, but he couldn’t help the heat that rushed to his cheeks as he focused on detailing the sketch.

Rayla was a friend. A  _ friend _ . She didn’t need to be anything more. He didn’t even need to be embarrassed about Ezran trying to get him to date her. It wasn’t a big deal. She was cool, and he wanted to get to know her. That was it. And that was more than enough for him. Who couldn’t use more friends?

He just didn’t need to tell Ezran that it was possible that he had already found a new muse in her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @Eerna on Tumblr did a BEAUTIFUL drawing of where Callum and Rayla meet in chapter 1! [Check it out here!](https://eerna.tumblr.com/post/190085906227/theres-this-cute-au)


	4. Feel It All And Hold It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayla practices her new dance routine and finally gets to see the drawing from Callum.

"I'm headed to work," Rayla called to Runaan as she slung her dance bag over her shoulder. She popped her head into the kitchen and added, "Can you remind Ethari to ask off work so he can come with me to the competition? He needs to have those dates secured so we're not scrambling like last time."

"I'll let him know," Runaan confirmed. 

She left the house and climbed into her car. It had been a while since she had genuinely been excited to go to work. She liked her job, but it wasn't exactly as though she could befriend her students, the oldest of whom were twelve years old. With the knowledge that Callum would be regularly bringing Ezran to class, she was able to look forward to having a  _ friend _ at work once a week. Since she decided to forgo college (save for her math class), it wasn't particularly easy to make friends her age, but it seemed like Callum really did want to be her friend. 

They had been talking every now and then over Instagram over the past week. It was mostly her asking if she could see the progress on his drawing, and him insisting that she would see it soon enough. Hopefully, that meant that she would see it tonight. She was all but vibrating with anticipation. It was so foreign to her to have an artist use her as a model, but it certainly wasn't unwelcome. How had he drawn her? Did he mean it when he said that it would be his starring piece? What did that mean? What had even made him want to draw her in the first place? She knew that she had an unusual look - not many people had naturally white hair and purple eyes - but she didn't know if she would go so far as to say that her appearance would inspire an artist.

Either way. She was more excited to see the finished product than she wanted to admit.

She entered the studio and clocked in on her phone, waving hello to Opeli, the owner of the studio and her dance coach, before she dipped into a changing room to get into her dancewear.

When she emerged and headed to her locker to put her things away, Opeli met her there with a grin. "Someone looks excited to work."

"Aren't I always?" Rayla joked, turning the lock to secure her things. She sat down and began lacing up her pointe shoes.

Chuckling, Opeli replied, "Not like this. I know you get excited to dance, but there's something else going on. Come on, what's got you so happy?"

"It's always a good day when my favorite student Ezran comes in to assistant teach." Which was true. Ezran was the only one who could manage to keep Zym under control, and it was great to see Ezran for longer than in passing. He was a great kid.

"I'll accept that for now," Opeli relented. She gestured to the empty classroom. "You going to try out that choreography today?"

Rayla nodded, stepping into the room and up to the barre along the wall to begin stretching. "Would you mind looking at the routine after classes are over? Help refine it?"

"Of course." Opeli turned on the computer in the corner and stepped out of the room. "I'll leave you to it. You've got forty five minutes before the little ones come in." She closed the door behind her, leaving Rayla to warm up.

Finding the music piece for her routine, she pushed play on the computer and took her place in the center of the room. The music swelled, and she rolled up en pointe, letting the music fill her lungs and extend through her limbs. The movements accompanying the music weren’t familiar enough to her for it to feel natural quite yet. She felt as though she was stumbling through more than learning how the dance was supposed to feel. This was always the worst part of learning a routine, for her. If she could skip to the part where the dance is second nature, she would. But for now, she had to wrack her mind and remember what came next.  _ Arabesque, pirouette, jeté, plié… _

She replayed and replayed the piece, making small changes to the parts that weren’t working well. Her routine was going to be complete by the end of the night if it killed her.

In the middle of what must have been her fifth time through, the door to the classroom opened, and she jumped, coming down off pointe to look at who had come through the door. Ezran stood stiffly in the doorway with an even more stiff Callum behind him.

“Sorry!” Ezran exclaimed, rushing to the computer to pause her music and back it up a few seconds. “Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt. Keep practicing, we’ll leave you alone!”

“Thanks,” she replied, brushing back the few strands of hair that always escaped from her bun, noticing sweat on her forehead. She’d been working harder on the routine than she thought she had been. As Ezran went to the barre to stretch and she went to the computer to restart the music and find her place, she noticed that Callum was still in the doorway, shifting his weight from foot to foot. Rayla sighed and said, “Come in or don’t, but make a decision, because I need to practice, and the lobby is going to be full of kids soon, so the door needs to be closed.”

“Oh! Right.” He looked between the room and the still-empty lobby for a moment, then took a step backwards. “I’ll just...wait out here, I guess.”

With a smile, Rayla told him, “You can come in after this first class.”

He returned her smile, a bit of his stiffness falling away as he closed the door.

Ignoring Ezran on the side of the room, Rayla hit play on the music, took her place in the center of the room again, and closed her eyes to listen to the previous few seconds of the music to get her place in the piece. Then - quite literally - she jumped back in. The movements were starting to feel a little less foreign, but she knew that this was going to take quite a while to refine.

Upon finishing her run-through of the routine, she took a deep breath and opened the door so the kids would be able to come in as they arrived.

Ezran clapped, drawing her attention. A grin on his face, he stood and applauded, making her chuckle and curtsey.

“That was great, Rayla!” he praised as she took her seat at the computer.

She snorted, scrolling through music to put on for the kids. “I’d tell you not to lie to me, but the sad part is that I know you mean it. Which can only mean that, in the however many years you’ve been dancing, you’ve learned nothing.” She looked up at him, unable to keep that tone with him for long. “Thanks, Ez.”

He sat on the floor and continued stretching. “Sorry, I tell my friends the truth when they do something great. Like when they befriend absolute  _ losers _ like my brother.”

Rayla couldn’t hold back a laugh. “He’s not a loser! A little nervous maybe, but not a loser.”

“Agree to disagree,” Ezran said, grinning. “Seriously, though, he was so  _ resigned _ about driving me to dance every week when our mom said that she would be working Tuesdays. But it seems like he doesn’t mind this week. And I think we have you to thank for that.”

Rolling her eyes, Rayla replied, “You’re making it sound like I’m some saint for helping Callum avoid dance moms. If you didn’t notice, he chose to sit out there and risk them today.”

“He just didn’t want to bother you while you were dancing.”

“And you did?”

“I know I’m not a bother.”

Callum would learn soon enough that he wasn’t one either, she supposed.

Children started bouncing into the room, yelling and excited for class. Zym was one of the first in the room, and Rayla could not have been more thankful to have Ezran with her; he seemed to be the only person in the studio Zym would listen to. He was quite the troublemaker, and full of more energy than Rayla had ever seen in a kid before. 

She led the kids through the five basic positions, introducing the hand positions that accompanied each one. And, as she expected, since teaching little kids was like herding cats, even with Ezran’s much-appreciated help, simply going through the five positions a few times did take the full thirty minutes of class. 

It was a welcome relief when class was over. Four-year-olds were fine to deal with one or two at a time. A class of eight got a little more difficult. At least the six-year-olds she would have in her next class were calmer and a bit easier to teach.

Ezran slipped out of the room and into the classroom next door for his tap class, and the room was empty save for her again. She took a breath and sat down at her computer. Only then did she notice the presence in the doorway.

Callum stood there, sketchbook in hand, fidgeting in the doorway without stepping inside.

“What are you, a vampire? Can you not enter without being invited in?” Rayla laughed, gesturing for him to join her. “Come on in and lemme see that sketchbook, I’ve been  _ dying _ to see your drawing.”

His expression brightened and he stepped into the room, closing the door behind him.

“Thanks so much for letting me draw you,” he began, paging through the sketchbook. “I’ve had the worst art block for the past few weeks, and...and I really think that drawing you is helping me to break it. It felt so good to actually be drawing again, and to have someone different to draw, something so new.” He handed the sketchbook over, and Rayla eagerly grabbed it from him.

All the air left her lungs. She’d seen on his Instagram that he didn’t frequently color his drawings, but this one was full of color. It was a drawing of her most recent competition, in her flowing pink costume. She was en pointe, mid arabesque, looking up at her hand. A soft yellow spotlight was on her, casting a glow on her hair and making it almost shimmer. The expression he’d drawn on her face was unabashedly joyful. And her eyes...she had no idea how he was able to get the color of her eyes so perfectly, even in the cast of the yellow lighting. Somehow, between the lighting and the joy on her face, he had managed to visually capture how it felt for her to dance.

“Wow,” she breathed, gazing at the page. “What do you mean, you didn’t get into art school? You’re incredible.”

He shifted in his seat, tense. “I’ve been working to improve since they turned me down. I’m better than I was, and I plan to keep improving.” After a second, he added, “Besides, what do  _ you _ mean, you don’t win your competitions? There was a video on Instagram, and your dancing is flawless.”

She rolled her eyes. “I appreciate the compliment, but it’s  _ far _ from flawless. That competition especially was an off day for me.” Competition days always seemed to be off days, somehow.

“What about the one you were practicing earlier?” He gestured vaguely to the middle of the room. “I didn’t see much of it, but it was fantastic.”

Snorting, she told him, “A lot of work needs to go into that one before it’s anywhere near perfect.”

A smirk on his face (that she didn’t know he was bold enough to make in the first place), he suggested, “Well, you have to practice anyway, right? Put on the music and go through it again so I can tell you that it’s flawless.” His eyes widened, as though a switch inside his mind flipped. “I-I mean, you don’t have to. I know that things like, uh, things like this are, um, hard to do in front of other people you don’t know. Well, I guess, you’re a performer? But since you just started practicing this one, I understand if-”

“Callum.” A laugh bubbled up from inside Rayla. His face was a deep shade of red, and she got the feeling that he was easily flustered. “You’re right. I need to practice. But you’re not allowed to comment on the quality, because - no offense at all - you don’t know enough about ballet to say if it’s good or bad.”

Holding his hands up, he said, “No offense taken, I know nothing about ballet. But I think I like watching it.”

She ducked her head behind the computer screen, half to find the music for her routine, and half to hide what she was sure was a blush creeping up her neck. Maybe he wasn’t the only one easily flustered.

Rayla stood and took her place in the center of the room, pointing to her chair. “You sit in my spot, you’re my music master.”

He jumped up from where he was sitting and took her seat instead, waiting for her cue. Before telling him to start the music, she closed her eyes and let out a breath, releasing tension with it. She nodded and opened her eyes again.

The music began, and she decidedly kept her eyes away from Callum, choosing instead to focus on the steps, on making the small changes she’d taken mental notes of earlier. Her body was beginning to understand which parts of the music went with which parts of the dance, given she stayed focused.

Which she didn’t.

Her eyes drifted to her observer, who had his sketchbook open to a new page, his pencil furiously darting across the paper. Was he drawing her again?

She stumbled, then blinked, tuning back into the music. Where was she in the routine?

“Do you want me to go back for you?” Callum asked.

Shaking her head, she replied, “No, I...I think I want to change what comes next, anyway. I’m going over it tonight with Opeli.” She put her signature smirk on her face and curtseyed dramatically. “So that’s all you get for now. Gimme my seat back.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Callum chuckled, switching back to the chair on the other side of her computer. “I still think that what you have is really great.”

“You and your brother,” Rayla said, shaking her head in amusement. “You both compliment too much. But thank you.”

A few moments of silence passed between them. It wasn’t entirely uncomfortable, but she wished she could think of something to say.

It was Callum who broke the silence first.

“Hey, uh...I didn’t get your number last week.” He looked at her with what she saw as hope. “Can I give you mine?”


	5. It'll Be Alright

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum tries to ignore being mercilessly teased.

Callum stretched, set aside his drawing tablet, and laid down on the couch, unlocking his phone. Apparently, Claudia had texted him while he was fighting with his tablet to finish a drawing.

_ [Claudia (2:16pm)] So WHY did you never tell me how things went with that girl o(≧o≦)o _

_ [Callum (3:22pm)] Sorry, I just saw this. I was working on a commission. My drawing tablet is glitching out though, so that’s fun. _

_ [Callum (3:23pm)] Things are going well! She’s really cool, and she liked the drawing. _

_ [Claudia (3:26pm)] Sweet!! And you got her number? (¬‿¬) You got a date? _

_ [Callum (3:27pm)] Number, yes. Date, no. I don’t plan to date her, I’m happy being her friend. _

_ [Claudia (3:27pm)] (¬_¬) _

_ [Callum (3:27pm)] Stop giving me that face. _

_ [Claudia (3:28pm)] (¬_¬) _

_ [Claudia (3:28pm)] No _

_ [Claudia (3:29pm)] But hey!! You said you were working on a commission!! Art block is gone? _

_ [Callum (3:30pm)] Getting there, yeah! I’m getting back into the swing of drawing, and it feels GREAT. _

_ [Claudia (3:30pm)] ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) _

_ [Claudia (3:30pm)] Is it _

_ [Claudia (3:31pm)] Is it because _

_ [Callum (3:31pm)] Don’t. _

_ [Claudia (3:31pm)] Of thE GIRL _

_ [Callum (3:32pm)] Bye, Claudia. _

_ [Claudia (3:32pm)] （；´Д｀） _

The front door opened, and Ezran appeared over the back of the couch, a grin on his face.

“Who’re you texting?” he asked, dropping his backpack and rounding to the front of the couch to nudge Callum’s legs out of the way and sit next to him. “Is it Rayla?”

With a roll of his eyes, Callum replied, “It’s Claudia.”

Ezran sighed. “Have you texted Rayla  _ at all _ since last night?” The exasperated tone in his voice told Callum that he still wasn’t giving up on trying to get him to ask her out. He would have to gather the people he was close to and explain that just because he was friends with a girl that wasn’t Claudia didn’t mean that he had to date her. Maybe he would make a powerpoint about it. Anything to get it through their heads that he wanted to be her friend, and nothing more.

“No,” he told him. “I haven’t. I need to ask her a question, but I don’t know when her math class is, and I don’t want to bother her while she’s in class.” Or while she worked, but he didn’t know when she started work either. 

“Just text her,” Ezran said, as though it was the easiest thing in the world. “You guys are friends, right? If she can’t talk, she’ll ignore it. If she can, she’ll text you back.”

Sure, because it’s definitely simple to casually text someone as cool as Rayla without thinking about bothering her. To a degree, Ezran was right; he did consider Rayla a friend. And he never worried about whether or not Soren or Claudia were busy before texting them. And at the end of the day, Rayla really was just a normal person.

He sucked in a breath.

_ [Callum (3:40pm)] Hey! Thanks for hanging out with me again last night. I was wondering if you mind if I post the drawing of you on Instagram? I won’t post it if you’re not okay with it, and you’re not obligated to say yes, but I thought I’d ask! _

Okay. The hard part was over. He could breathe out and relax, he reminded himself as he locked his phone. 

He unlocked it a second later to see if she was replying yet.

Maybe the hard part wasn't over. 

He mentally kicked himself, opening Instagram instead to idly scroll and keep his mind off the waiting text. He didn't need to stress about it.

The moment his phone buzzed with a notification, he opened the text.

_ [Rayla (3:43pm)] of course, youre nice to hang out with _

_ [Rayla (3:43pm)] sure, i dont mind if you post it. thanks for letting me see it, its fantastic!! the whole world should see your talent _

He closed his eyes for a moment, trying not to let Ezran see his reaction to her text. He wasn't going to survive if she kept complimenting him like that. But he'd be damned if he didn't try.

_ [Callum (3:45pm)] No problem! I'm glad you liked it. And I'm glad that you felt comfortable enough to show me your dance routine. I didn't mean to pressure you into showing me or anything, but I was glad to see it. _

_ [Rayla (3:45pm)] nah no worries i didnt feel pressured _

_ [Rayla (3:46pm)] i did see you drawing me again tho 👀 _

_ [Rayla (3:46pm)] i expect to see that one too _

He felt his face heat up. She had looked so focused on dancing that he assumed she hadn't been looking at him. He  _ hoped _ she hadn't been looking at him.

A snicker rose from next to him. Callum glanced at Ezran, whose expression was nothing if not wicked.

"What?" Callum demanded.

His grin stretching, he replied, "You're blushing. Because you got up the guts to text Rayla."

"N-no, I-!" Frustrated, he stopped before he could make a fool out of himself. "She's praising my drawing a lot more than I'm used to people praising it. And that just...yeah, it embarrasses me. That's all."

"Sure." Ezran kept the lilt in his voice that said he thought he knew more of what was going on. Whatever. He could think whatever he wanted.

_ [Callum (3:49pm)] Yeah, definitely! I’ll show you when it’s done. _

_ [Rayla (3:50pm)] nice _

_ [Rayla (3:50pm)] alright i gotta get to work. talk to you soon! _

_ [Callum (3:52pm)] Okay, have a good day of work! Bye! _

He allowed himself a slight smile, feeling some of his tension leave him. There was no reason for him to be anxious around her. Somehow, her comfort with herself and with the friendship helped him to relax. As long as he managed to get himself to relax more quickly instead of getting flustered at every positive thing she said, he knew that this would be a great friendship.

“Thanks for pushing me to text her,” Callum muttered, closing the messaging app. “Nothing happened, and nothing’s going to happen, but she’s really great. I’m glad I met her.” Nudging Ezran with his foot, he added, “And I’m glad that you’re pushing me to get to know her.”

The smirk on Ezran’s face morphed into a kinder smile. “She’s a great person, and really fun. I think you two’ll be good friends, even if you never date her.”

“I hope so.” Callum reached under the couch for his sketchbook, opening to the page with a messy sketch of Rayla from the previous evening. “I gotta admit, she’s fun to draw, too. I’m glad she’s okay with me drawing her.”

Thankfully, Ezran refrained from making a comment about that, and let Callum continue the drawing in peace, putting more certain lines where light, hesitant ones were. She was mid pirouette, her gaze off to the side, as stray bits of hair whipped around, and her short dance skirt flared at her waist. The movement of dancers was always one of Callum’s favorite things to draw, but Rayla’s was so different from Ezran’s. While Ezran always had his usual expression of overflowing joy while he danced, there was something in Rayla’s face that Callum couldn’t get quite right. She was happy to be dancing, sure. It looked as natural to her as breathing. But there was also a determination, a focus, or almost a hardness in her. Ballet dancers usually looked to Callum like they were fragile, but Rayla, with her joy, looked like she was daring someone to try and break her, but she never would.

He couldn’t capture that expression in his drawing yet. But one day, he would.


	6. You Can Step On My Feet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayla and Ethari start preparing for her competition.

“Then step back,” Rayla instructed, nudging Ethari’s foot with her own. “Then I spin.” Ethari lifted her hand above her head, and she stepped through the spin, letting him catch her back in their original position. She grinned.

“We’ll get it in no time,” Ethari said, spinning her again and eliciting a laugh from her.

“‘Course we will,” she replied. “You’re my best dance partner; we’ll have it down in a week and wow everyone at the gala.” After a pause, she added, “Don’t tell Runaan that I think you’re a better dancer than he is.”

Ethari chuckled. “I think Runaan knows that he wasn’t made for dancing.”

“Yeah, but if he knows that I said it, it’ll crush him.”

“Mm, you’re right with that.” Ethari took a step back from Rayla and bowed to end their practice.

Curtseying in return, Rayla turned to her laptop and opened her email. “I’ll forward you the email with the music and the video walking you through the steps.”

“Thank you.” He placed a kiss on top of her head and started toward the front entryway to put on his coat. “Speaking of Runaan, I know he’s going to ask me how the boy you’ve been talking to is doing. You know how suspicious he can be.”

Rayla rolled her eyes. “Callum, or the idiot from my math class who keeps texting me about homework?” Somehow, Soren had gotten ahold of her number and was asking if he could copy her homework, as though he thought she was a good student.

Amused, Ethari replied, “Callum, but it sounds like the idiot from your math class will be a fun story for another day.”

She couldn’t repress how much she brightened. “Callum’s great. He’s an artist, and he drew me. It’s really incredible, and I know he started another drawing, but he won’t let me see it yet.” Before Ethari could specify what Runaan would want to know, she pressed, “And he’s a  _ friend _ . That’s all. Runaan has nothing to worry about, and he can stop giving me the side-eye whenever I talk about my friend.”

"I'll tell him he can stop worrying," Ethari assured her, slipping on his shoes. “I’m glad you’re making friends apart from Opeli and Ezran. And who was that girl from school? Nyx?”

With a glare, Rayla snapped, “Nyx is not my friend.”

“Right, of course.” Ethari had a grin on his lips, and pulled Rayla into a one-armed hug. “I have to go meet Runaan for dinner. I’ll see you tonight.”

“See you tonight, Ethari,” she replied, letting herself soften. “Have a good time.”

He waved to her and stepped out the door, closing it behind him.

Since she didn’t have to work that day, Rayla had the rest of the evening to herself. Instead of confining herself to her room for some alone time, she had full reign over the house.

She made herself a quick dinner, considering her conversation with Ethari. Was it really so strange that she made a friend? Runaan usually didn’t worry for more than a few days after finding something to be suspicious over. She would show him that everything was fine, and he would relax. It had been almost two weeks since she and Callum had met, and Runaan hadn’t let up. She would grant him the fact that she didn’t make friends often, but Callum was entirely harmless, and if Runaan would listen just a little closer, he would understand that.

After eating, Rayla sat on the living room floor to stretch, propping her phone up so she could watch whatever Youtube videos caught her fancy.

As she unlocked her phone, however, she saw a notification sitting from a while earlier.

_ [Callum (4:04pm)] What’s your favorite color? _

She opened up the messaging app, leaning forward to begin stretching.

_ [Rayla (5:57pm)] green _

_ [Rayla (5:58pm)] sorry it took me so long, i was practicing a thing with ethari _

_ [Rayla (5:58pm) one of my kind of adoptive dads _

_ [Rayla (5:58pm)] whats yours? _

It had probably been years since someone last asked what her favorite color was. As she got older, that became much less frequent of a get-to-know-you question, replaced instead with things like “What are you doing with your life?” and “Why aren’t you going to college?” It was a nice change of pace to have someone want to know something as simple as her favorite color.

_ [Callum (6:00pm)] Red. _

_ [Callum (6:00pm)] My mom gave me a red scarf one year for Christmas when I was a kid, and it was my favorite article of clothing. I wore it every day for years, even through the summer. _

_ [Rayla (6:01pm)] ooo babie callum lore _

_ [Rayla (6:01pm)] letting me know how much of a dork you really are _

_ [Rayla (6:02pm)] ive never had a piece of clothing ive loved that much but i think i get it _

_ [Callum (6:04pm)] I’ll get us matching scarves. Red for me, green for you. You’ll learn what it’s like to never want to take something off. _

_ [Rayla (6:04pm)] what if i want your favorite color instead? then ill think of you when i wear it _

Oh, no. There was no reason for her to say that. Sure, she wanted to be better friends with him, but that probably wasn’t the way to go about it, especially given how easily flustered he had proven to be. She didn’t want to scare him away. Though that would certainly make Runaan less suspicious, since scaring people away was her specialty.

_ Callum (6:06pm)] Mfnvdmdf that works too! _

_ [Rayla (6:07pm)] what spurred the favorite color question? just a conversation piece? _

His next text that came not long after was a picture - Mickey Mouse saying “It’s a surprise tool that will help us later!”

Rayla couldn’t suppress her laugh. Timid Callum being a meme lord wasn’t exactly something she had expected, but it delighted her nonetheless. They had much to discuss and many vines to quote. And the fact that he was communicating with her in memes now definitely meant that he was feeling more comfortable with her.

She smiled. Callum was sweet. Talking to him was always fun, and his joking with her made her all but forget that her favorite color was going to be a ‘surprise tool’ for him. She would find out in time what the surprise was, and she would wait until he showed her. Until that day, she would wait in contented excitement.

_ [Callum (6:10pm)] What were you practicing with Ethari, if you don’t mind me asking? _

_ [Rayla (6:10pm)] you know the competition ive got in dec? theres gonna be a gala afterward _

_ [Rayla (6:11pm)] competitors bring a plus one and do a choreographed dance with them during the gala. etharis my plus one, so hes gotta dance with me _

_ [Callum (6:12pm)] Ooh, a gala! So it’s ballroom dancing? _

_ [Rayla (6:12pm)] yea, etharis great at dancing. best plus one, so we;re gonna kill it _

_ [Callum 6:13pm)] I’m sure you’d kill it, no matter who your partner is! You’ll be the belle of the ball! _

A laugh escaped her, strong enough that she had to shift so she was no longer in a split. Her meme lord Callum who loved to compliment people. She couldn’t wait to see him again.


	7. Give It A Try

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayla invites Callum shoe shopping.

He had only been awake for a few minutes the following Saturday that Callum received a text. 

_ [Rayla (9:20am)] whatre you doing today _

He blinked for a second. What  _ was _ he doing that day? Did he have any plans with Ezran? No, Ezran had a group project for school and was going over to his classmate’s house to do it. The only thing Callum needed to do was finish his last commission and start compiling his portfolio to reapply to Spire University.

He groaned. He would finish that last commission if his drawing tablet would decide to work.

_ [Callum (9:22am)] No solid plans. What’s up? _

He ran his fingers through his messy hair and heaved himself out of bed to get dressed. Even if he didn’t have any solid plans quite yet, he got the feeling that he soon would have plans with Rayla. His stomach did a flip, but he ignored it and looked at his phone once more.

_ [Rayla (9:23am)] come shoe shopping with me _

There were a million possible ways he could refuse. He could say that he hadn’t slept much. He could say that compiling his portfolio would take a lot more of his day than he knew it actually would. He could say that he was Ezran’s ride and had to be available whenever Ezran needed him. Few people were surprised when he opted not to go out. More often than not, his anxiety wouldn’t allow for him to go out with anyone that wasn’t Ezran, Soren, or Claudia.

This time, he took a breath and smiled.

_ [Callum (9:26am)] Sounds good. Tell me when and where to meet you. _

He dressed and emerged from his room to eat breakfast. It probably wouldn’t be for a couple of hours that she would want to meet, so he plopped down on the couch to eat.

_ [Rayla (9:26am)] mall opens at 10. wanna meet then? _

_ [Callum (9:34am)] Oh! That’s much sooner than I expected! _

_ [Rayla (9:35am)] is that a problem? we can wait until later if you want but im. so ready to get out of the house today _

The mall was only about ten minutes away. He could make it there easily by ten. But…

But what? He hadn’t had time to mentally prepare? If given time to do so, then he might as well tell her now that he wasn’t going to go. There was no way he wouldn’t psych himself out and give himself so much anxiety that he would be rendered completely incapable of seeing her at all.

He had to do it.

_ [Callum (9:36am)] No, it’s fine! I’ll meet you in the food court of the mall at 10 on one condition. _

_ [Rayla (9:36am)] oh oof whats your condition _

_ [Callum (9:37am)] I want to make a stop to look at drawing tablets. I need to replace mine. _

_ [Rayla (9:37am)] oh yea thats fine ill look at tablets with you _

_ [Callum (9:38am)] Then I’ll see you in a few minutes! _

He dug under the couch for his sketchbook and turned to the drawing he’d finished the previous  evening to snap a picture of it. He hadn’t told Rayla that it was done, but he had to show it to her. The very prospect of the excited look on her face made his heart swell. She was going to love this piece, he knew it.

After sending a quick text to his parents that he was going out with a friend, he slipped on his shoes and a jacket to fight the October chill.

The doors of the mall were hardly unlocked by the time he arrived, and yet somehow, he was still the second to arrive. Rayla was already seated, looking at her phone. Her white hair made her stand out, easy for him to spot the moment he walked inside. She must have really wanted to get out of the house if she was there already.

“Morning,” Callum greeted her as he approached, tapping his foot against her leg in a friendly kick.

She looked up from her phone and grinned, standing up to give him a light punch in the arm.

“Morning to you too,” she replied. “Really shouldn’t take me long to find shoes, but I wanted company. Shoe shopping is literally the worst, so I’m gonna make it as painless as possible for both of us.”

He chuckled, releasing some of the nerves that were trying to build up as Rayla started to lead the way to their first stop.

She was wearing an oversized hoodie and a set of leggings with sneakers. Instead of the bun she usually wore her hair in at the studio, it was in a loose braid over her shoulder. All at once, he realized that he had never seen her outside the studio, or in non-dance clothes. It was strange to see her wearing something that wasn’t a leotard or tutu, but she was definitely cute in this different look.

“You didn’t think I existed outside the studio, did you?” Rayla teased, a smirk on her face.

Callum’s face heated. He needed to stop staring whenever she caught him off guard. It was okay, though. He could play this off.

“Yeah,” he replied, giving her a grin. “I thought you were a mysterious dance spirit instead of a person. If you leave the studio, you disappear.”

“Excellent.” She flashed him a playful look. “That’s how everyone should see me, no one should believe I’m human. But now that you’ve discovered me, you have to keep my secret. No one else can know that the Mysterious Dance Spirit goes shoe shopping. Or wears shoes that aren’t for ballet.” She kicked up one of her feet to emphasize her sneakers.

With a laugh, Callum gently nudged her with his elbow. “Speaking of, what type of shoes are you looking for? Heels? Any particular color?”

She snorted. “You’d have to pay me a lot of money to get me into heels. But probably silver. That’d match my dress.”

Raising an eyebrow, Callum asked, “Wait, no heels? Don’t you wear pointe shoes all the time? What’s the difference?”

“They’re both painful,” she explained as they stepped into a store. “I’m not putting myself through any more pain than I have to. I’d go barefoot if I could, but I’ll settle for flats.”

“Alright, silver flats.” He put his hands on his hips, looking out at the rows of shoes. “I’ve got this.”

“Oh, do you?” There was more than a little bit of surprise in her voice, and Callum put his hand to his chest in offense.

“You doubt me?” he retorted. “You invited me shoe shopping, and you don’t believe that I can find a good pair of flats for you? Besides, you’re the one making it easy. ‘Silver flats’ isn’t a tall order.” Determination filled him. “I feel challenged now. I’m gonna find you the perfect shoes within the hour.”

Rayla snickered and leaned against the end of a rack. “Alright, I’ll wait here. You bring me shoes to try.”

“You’re on.” He took off down the aisle, skidded to a stop, and turned back to her. “What size are you?”

“Eight.”

He nodded and leapt down to the dress shoes. His eyes swept over the different types of shoes, only stopping when he found size eight flats in silver. To his own surprise, he found three pairs, stacked the boxes in his arms, and brought them back to Rayla, who sat down.

Upon opening the first box, she shook her head and handed them back to Callum. “Hate em. I don’t want anything sparkly on them.”

“You could have mentioned that,” Callum pouted.

“You were the one who said you would find me the perfect pair of shoes only knowing my size and color preference.”

She had him there, but he wouldn’t be deterred. As she opened the boxes for the other two pairs of shoes, she didn’t have anything negative to say, and put one shoe on each foot to walk around for a few moments.

Pointing to the right shoe, she asked, “Do you think this one would look better in black? Black would look just as good with my dress as silver will.”

He shrugged. “I think it’ll look just as good in black or silver, but I’ll see if I can find a black pair.”

Before he could step back away, a shoe made contact with his arm and fell to the floor. He blinked at it, then looked at Rayla, who was already tossing the second shoe and reaching for the box.

“Put these away, I don’t want them. At least not in silver.”

She chucked the box at him, which he only barely caught, and quickly put the shoes inside, glancing around to see if anyone was watching.

“Rayla!” Callum hissed, shoving the shoes back on the shelf and extracting a black pair. “You’re gonna get us in trouble!”

“Oh nooo!” she exclaimed, sarcasm dripping from her voice. “I’ve never been in trouble before! No, please, I have a family to feed, I can’t get  _ booted _ from a shoe store!” She held out her hands. “Toss me the box.”

Callum rolled his eyes. “First of all, that was a terrible pun. Second, I’m not going to-”

“ _ Toss me the box _ .”

He glanced over his shoulder again, and when he saw no employees, he sucked in a breath and gently tossed the box over to Rayla.

Who did catch it.

_ Loudly. _

She made no effort to hide their game, opting to drop the box on the chair provided, instead of carefully place it down, and open it up. It only took her a second, without even putting the shoes on, for her to cover them back up.

“They were better in silver,” she commented, tossing the box back to Callum. He fumbled for a moment, but managed to not let the box fall to the floor, and put it back on the shelf.

“Did you want to look somewhere else?” Callum asked, returning to her side. “There’s only this one pair that you actually like, so we might find something better-”

“No, I’ll get these,” she cut him off. “They fit, they’re comfortable, they’re the right color, and they’re not sparkly.” Her tone was final as she placed the flats back in their box and pulled her sneakers on.

Callum could hardly speak. “Wait, that’s...that’s it?” He followed her to the checkout desk, manned by a teenage employee who looked at them like she wanted nothing more than for them to leave. “You can just...walk into a shoe store, compare two shoes, and just… _ get one _ ?”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “Isn’t that how shoe shopping works?”

“I mean,  _ yeah _ , but how are you so decisive? It took you minutes to find shoes, and I expected it to take hours!”

With a chuckle, she took finished her transaction with the cashier and ushered Callum out of the store. “You that indecisive? I told you, I hate shoe shopping, so I wanted to make this as quick as possible. It’s not like I’ll be wearing these shoes all the time anyway. They just have to be good for the gala.”

“Still,” he said, trailing after her. “Like, I always have to weigh every possibility before settling on something I buy. That’s why I just want to  _ look _ at tablets today. I’m not actually gonna get one yet until I know what I want and what my price range is after the commissions I’ve been doing.”

“Looking doesn’t hurt,” Rayla commented, gesturing for him to lead the way. “Take me to the tablets!”

He didn’t think about it. Her hand was out in front of him, and he hardly processed the idea before his hand was in hers, pulling her into a jog across the mall. It was a full minute before he fully realized that he’d grabbed her hand, but given that she hadn’t taken her hand away, he managed to quell his anxiety before it arose, telling himself that she would have pulled away if she wasn’t okay with the contact.

Callum only slowed when his lungs started to protest against running. One look at Rayla told him that she was ready to keep jogging for a while longer as she smirked at him. Of course an athlete like her would have high endurance.

“Not a word,” he told her, trying to catch his breath. “I’m an artist, not an athlete.”

“I wasn’t gonna say anything,” she teased, tugging at his hand.

The store they entered had a bigger variety of types of drawing tablets than Callum expected. Several were on display to be tested out and played with, which Rayla immediately decided to do. She had drawn goofy smiley faces on three tablets before he had even realized she wasn’t next to him anymore. At least she was entertaining herself. There was no way she wouldn’t get bored quickly looking at what probably seemed like the same thing over and over.

He found himself drawn to one particular tablet. It was a little bigger than the one that he had at home, with a much clearer screen. He picked up the pen and made a stroke across the blank canvass. The pen pressure was so much better than he was used to. With pressure like that, he could really improve some of his pieces, and make strides on his digital art.

Erasing the broad stroke, he changed the settings of the pen and began a sketch, just to see how it would come out.

The lines and shapes on the screen took the form of Rayla in her oversized hoodie, a playful smirk on her face. He smiled down at it. She needed to stop being so fun to draw. If he had this tablet, he could feel like he was doing her justice with more than just pencils and paper.

“You like that one?”

Callum jumped upon hearing Rayla’s voice as she leaned her chin on his shoulder to look at the screen.

“Hey!” She grinned and pointed at the sketch. “That’s me!”

“Yeah,” he replied with a chuckle, and put the pen back down. “I’ll come back for it once I’ve done a couple more commissions.” Turning back to her, he said, “I’m ready to go if you are. Anything else you wanted to do?”

Her eyes flicked to the tablet, then back to him, and she took his hand once more. “I’m not ready to go home, so we’re getting coffee. It’s on me.”

He laughed, gladly following behind. If friendship with her was going to be full of spontaneity and her dragging him places, then he couldn’t say he was opposed. She certainly was bringing some excitement into his life, even if the most exciting thing so far was unexpectedly going to the mall. He had a feeling that, the closer they got, the more spontaneous and exciting the adventures would get.

They stood in line at Starbucks, Rayla bouncing from one foot to the other. The longer she did it, the more her bouncing started to look like deliberate movements - one foot trailed behind her, she kicked the other just a few inches off the floor, she brought them together, then traced one in a half circle…

It was cute that she was even dancing while they were in line for coffee. She really loved it, and had fun with it. Watching her dance so happily was going to be one of the joys of being close to her.

They stepped up to the counter and she gestured for him to tell the barista what he wanted. He ordered his regular caramel latte, and expected her to order a black coffee or something similar. Instead, she caught him completely off guard.

“Double chocolate creme frap, please.”

He blinked at her while she paid and they got a table to wait for their drinks.

“Sweet tooth?” he asked after a minute. “I definitely didn’t expect you to want a sugary drink.”

Raising an eyebrow at him, she asked, “Why’s that? Chocolate fraps are my favorite. Besides, it’s not like you didn’t get something sweet too.”

“True.” He shrugged. “Didn’t take you for someone with such a sweet tooth. My mom and brother have the strongest ones I’ve ever encountered, and I wasn’t sure if anyone could combat them.”

With a chuckle, she said, “I can probably contest it. Runaan and Ethari love keeping sweets in the house, so what am I supposed to do?  _ Not _ eat something delicious?”

“Speaking of.” He considered for a moment whether or not he should ask, or if it would be prying. Then quickly told himself that it was okay. This whole friendship was turning out to be a learning experience for him to dive into things instead of second guessing himself too much. He wasn’t going to stop now. “Can I ask about Runaan and Ethari? You said at one point that they’re your sort of adoptive parents. But they’re not entirely?”

She shook her head, standing up for a moment to retrieve their drinks. “They’ve been my legal guardians for years. My parents work overseas in international affairs, and Runaan and Ethari are my parents’ best friends, so when I was a kid, they left me with them. I don’t see my parents a ton, but they make an effort and come home whenever they can to see me.”

Nodding slowly, Callum took in the new information, then ventured, “And...are Runaan and Ethari the reason you don’t want to be home right now?”

Rayla groaned, leaning her head down to the table. “Yeah. I love them, but they have a tendency to smother me. Runaan is all suspicious that I have a  _ friend _ , and he won’t let it go. I don’t make many friends, but he doesn’t have to treat it like such a big deal. And Ethari just isn’t helping, I swear he’s planting ideas in Runaan’s head that you’re my secret boyfriend or something.” Sitting back up, she took a breath. “I just needed to get away from it for a few hours. I’m already stressed enough, I don’t need this.”

“Understandable,” he replied. “And hey, you got me out of the house, so it’s win-win.”

“Yeah.” Her demeanor changed to teasing again. “You seem like the type that doesn’t get out of the house very much. Someone had to get you out, and that someone might as well be me.”

He rolled his eyes, but couldn’t keep himself from smiling. “Yeah, be as smug as you want. Congrats, you got me to interact with a human being on a day I would’ve otherwise spent drawing. Oh! Right!” He dug in his pocket for his phone, unlocked it, and found the photo as quickly as he could. “The other day, when I asked you your favorite color? That was for this.” He slid his phone across the table to her.

She snatched it up and gazed at the piece. It had started off as the sketch he did of her mid pirouette while she practiced her routine in front of him. He’d replaced her practice clothes with a green performance outfit, a layered skirt flaring as she spun. The expression still wasn’t quite right, in his opinion, but he had gotten it to a point that he was happy enough with it. And after today, he had the feeling that drawing her expressions would be a lot easier.

“Stop being so ridiculously good at art,” she mumbled, her eyes darting all over the screen to take in different parts of the drawing. “You’re seriously amazing, and it’s not fair.”

Awkwardly, he chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. “Thanks. I have you to thank.”

She looked up at him, her brow knit in confusion as she handed his phone back. “What do you mean?”

“Well...I had really bad art block before I met you.” He avoided eye contact when he explained, “You helped me break out of it. I can draw again because you let me draw you.”

She was quiet, but Callum couldn’t bring himself to look at her and gauge her reaction. He fixed his attention on his latte, warm between his hands, and tried not to think about what she was thinking.

“I’m glad,” she finally whispered. “I’m glad I could help you with your art.” When he looked up at her, she was smiling. “And I’m glad to be your friend.”

Tension left him with a sigh and he replied, “I’m glad to be your friend too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whaaat I just posted yesterday!! And a new chapter already!!!
> 
> You can expect more frequent updates :) Y'all have a lovely anon on Tumblr to thank!!


	8. Suddenly, I'm Feeling Brave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayla has a gift for Callum.

Rayla couldn’t stand still. For once, she was grateful for the energetic four-year-olds she had to wrangle. At least they kept her moving, so she didn’t have to worry about needing to stay still. It was just her focus that she had to keep in check. Her thoughts kept wandering to the item in her car, and the fact that in only a half hour, she would be able to give it to Callum. The prospect of it buzzed through her and kept her bouncing around the room as she assisted the kids.

In a blink, the class was over. She could hardly remember what she went over with them, but it was probably productive enough for four-year-olds. It didn’t much matter, they would likely forget it by next class anyway.

As she ushered the kids out of her classroom (making very sure that Zubeia got Zym before he could cause any trouble), she glanced over to the cubbies, where she saw Ezran putting on his tap shoes, talking to Callum. She bounced on the balls of her feet, escorting the last kid back to their parent.

The moment she was free, she leaped across the sitting area and grabbed onto Callum’s sleeve, making him jump.

“I need to get my shoes on,” she rushed, “and then you’re coming to my car with me.”

Ezran snickered. “I’m starting to think you two are more excited to see each other than I am to dance, and that’s hard to beat.”

Insistent, Rayla tugged on Callum’s sleeve. “I have reason to be excited! Come on!”

“Okay!” Callum laughed, following as she dragged him to her locker, where she swapped her ballet slippers for shoes and grabbed her keys.

“Let’s go!” she exclaimed, running toward the door, dodging children on the way.

“Don’t you need a jacket?” Callum called after her, trailing behind.

She shook her head. “Not important!” Her feet carried her swiftly to her car and she started bouncing again as she opened her trunk, waiting for Callum to catch up.

“What in the world are you so-”

“Just look!” Rayla yanked him closer so he would look at the item in her trunk.

Just as she thought might happen, his eyes tripled in size and his jaw dropped. He said nothing, and though one hand moved toward it, he didn’t touch, as though he was scared to. 

Nudging his hand forward, Rayla encouraged, “It’s for you. Take it.”

His eyes flicked from the drawing tablet he’d liked, to her, and back to the tablet. His voice was barely a whisper. “I...Rayla, you didn’t.”

“But I did!” she replied, a wide grin spreading across her face.

“I…” He let out a sound that sounded halfway between a laugh and a sigh. “It costs so much, I was going to buy it when I had the money because...it would be unfair of me to ask for it from someone else.” Shaking his head, he gestured to the tablet. “I can’t accept this.”

She rolled her eyes. “Of course you can. You never asked me for it, I  _ wanted _ to get it for you. So you can accept it by taking it home and doing lots more beautiful drawings drawings on it.”

“But…” Callum looked at her earnestly. “ _ Why _ ? You didn’t have to do this. Why did you?”

“Because I care about you, believe it or not,” she drawled, lifting the box out of her car and closing the trunk. “Come on, unlock your car. You’re taking this home if it kills me.”

He fumbled with his keys for a moment before he managed to unlock the doors for her to set the tablet down in the back seat and close the door once more. It was going to be so amazing to see what he would draw with this new tablet. He’d posted a few digital pieces on Instagram, and if those were good with a tablet that needed replacing, she couldn’t wait to see how his pieces would look on the new tablet.

Rayla shivered, the autumn chill catching up to her bare arms. “Come on, let’s get back inside. And you better let me see your first piece on that tablet.”

“Of course,” he breathed.

She caught his hand and pulled him back inside, which was mercifully warm, and to her locker so she could put her shoes and keys away.

“I saw how excited you were about the tablet the other day,” she began, stepping back into the classroom. Callum closed the door behind them. “I couldn’t see you get that excited and  _ not _ get it for you. It makes you so happy, and you know what? You’re my friend, and I want you to be happy. Seeing you happy makes me happy, and - oh!”

He interrupted her by enveloping her in a sudden, tight hug, and she felt his face buried in the crook of her neck. Was he shaking? Just from a gift? She smiled and wrapped her arms around him too.

They stayed like that for a few moments. Rayla relaxed into his embrace and felt his trembling subside.

When they separated, she sat down and excitedly questioned, “So what’re you gonna draw first on your tablet?”

“You.”

He hadn’t even thought about it. There hadn’t been a full second between the question and his answer. Yet he said it with such surety, as though it was the most natural response in the world. Callum, as she had learned over the last few weeks, was a very hesitant person. This kind of confidence wasn’t characteristic of him, which could only mean that he was  _ incredibly _ sure about it.

Rayla turned her face away from him and and muttered, “Again? You already drew me on that tablet! Aren’t you gonna get bored of drawing me?” She could feel the redness creeping up her neck and could only hope that Callum didn’t notice it.

“Well, I, uh, I mean…” Ah. There was the hesitance back again. “I told you that drawing you broke my art block. And, uh...you’re  _ fun _ to draw. Ez would call you my muse, and I guess that wouldn’t be...inaccurate? You inspire a lot of art in me, so...you’re my muse. And I’d like to keep drawing you. If that’s okay.”

She ventured to look at him. His cheeks were glowing red (so at least she wasn’t the only one), but he looked like he meant it.

“You better make it your best piece so far,” she insisted. “If it’s another piece of me dancing, then I’ll have Opeli hang it up in the studio.”  _ Why did she never think about her words before saying them? _ There was no taking that back now, no matter how badly she wanted to.

Callum laughed, but his eyes were averted. “My application to Spire U is due in a week. I’ll make this drawing the centerpiece of my portfolio.”

It wasn’t like Rayla was unfamiliar with flirting. But usually, she thought it was more of a game. There weren't any repercussions, like a boy sitting across from her, flustered, but still making an effort. It was  _ cute _ . That much, she couldn’t deny. And that much would likely keep her from trying to joke in the same way again.

After a few moments of heavy silence, Callum asked, “How can I repay you for the tablet?”

“No.” Rayla pointed a finger at him, narrowing her eyes. “If you even  _ think _ about trying to pay me back, then I  _ will _ kill you. I have the skills.”

With another laugh, Callum held up his hands in surrender. “I believe it!” He softened, and before she could react, he reached over and took her hand firmly in his. “Then let me just thank you again. I still can’t really believe that you got it for me. I appreciate it more than you’ll  _ ever know _ . Thank you, Rayla.”

A smile tugged at the corner of her lips. “You can thank me by putting that tablet to good use.”

“I will,” he replied, mirroring her with an even bigger smile. “I promise.”


	9. Won't Let You Fall Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something's off with Rayla.

“Callum,” Ezran called from his room. “We have to go soon. You know I have to be there early today.”

“Give me just a second,” Callum replied, gritting his teeth. He frantically clicked through the application, his eyes skimming over all of the information he entered. His heart hammered in his chest, and he felt a cold sweat on his brow. His fingers were trembling. Would that make him hit the wrong button? Was he going to screw this all up just by clicking ‘submit’?

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He couldn’t freak himself out. Not this late in the game.

Opening his eyes again, he hit ‘submit.’

A breath escaped him that he didn’t realize he’d been holding. His application was in. And despite any temptation he would have to check his email for the rest of the night, he turned off his computer and reminded himself that it was going to take several weeks before he got an acceptance or another rejection from Spire U.

It was done. The application was in, and it was out of his hands. He could stop thinking about it now.

Part of him knew that the majority of his anxiety was stemming from the last rejection. That portfolio wasn’t nearly as good as this one. At least rejection had motivated him to improve.

It also helped that he had a new source of inspiration. Callum was very careful not to submit more than just a few pieces he had done of Rayla. He’d done more than he would like to admit; he made good on his promise to draw her first on the tablet. And since he was getting used to it, that first piece wasn’t his proudest (though he let Rayla see it anyway). Thus, he tirelessly redrew and redrew the same thing, refining it throughout the week until he finally reached a version he was happy with.

Sitting in the coffee shop with Rayla after they’d gone shopping stuck in his mind more than he expected it to. The centerpiece of his portfolio was a digital drawing of her sitting across the table in her oversized sweater, frappuccino in one hand and leaning her chin in the other. He drew a lazy smile on her lips, and a golden glow reflecting off her braided hair from the coffee shop. Even in comparison to the traditional drawings he’d done of her dancing, he could confidently say that it was his favorite piece he’d ever done.

As Callum stood to get his jacket on, ready to put his portfolio out of his mind and take Ezran to the dance studio, the front door opened to reveal their mother, all smiles.

“Look who’s off work early!” she exclaimed. “Where’s Ez? You can stay home if you want, Callum, I’m sure you’re dying to get away from the moms.”

“I...uh…” Callum looked between Sarai and Ezran, who had entered the hallway with his dance bag slung over his shoulder. Ezran gave him a weak shrug, offering no help. Turning back to her, Callum smiled. “You’ve been working so many evenings, don’t you want to relax? He needs to be there early to help with the little kids too, so that’s even more time you could use to just take the night off. I can take him to practice, it’s no big deal.”

She waved him off. “No, don’t worry, I want to go! I need to see how the other moms are behaving without me there. Have you applied to Spire U yet? I’m sure you’ll want some time to-”

“I just did it,” he interrupted, reaching for his jacket. “I haven’t seen the other moms causing any problems, so you don’t need-”

Sarai scrutinized him, arms crossed. “I guess if you want to come that badly, you can, but I can’t imagine why.”

More than likely, she would understand why within the hour. Callum kept his mouth shut. He wasn’t going to give her any ideas.

She turned to Ezran, the grin returning to her face. “You ready to go?”

“Yeah!” Ezran trotted over and slipped his shoes on.

Callum shifted awkwardly, putting his own shoes on. He couldn’t exactly force his mother to stay home, but there was no way he wasn’t going to see Rayla tonight. He wanted to see how far she had come on refining her routine, and to tell her in person that his application for Spire U was in. Not to mention the fact that he needed a distraction from that application.

So the three of them piled into the car to go over to the dance studio together.

The last time Callum had to bring Ezran to the studio early for assistant teaching, he sat in a corner listening to music and scrolling through his phone. He could only hope that his mother wasn’t going to make him socialize with her friends. Ordinarily, she wouldn’t, but the possibility was still there, strongly enough to make him worry that he would face a dance mom interrogation that evening. It was impossible that none of them had ever seen him going into Rayla’s classroom every week. Gossip would arise. The only good thing about it was that Sarai was more likely to trust her own son’s word rather than the word of gossips.

While Ezran put his things away and slipped into Rayla’s classroom to stretch, there was a chorus from the small group of dance moms that had already gathered, all calling out Sarai’s name. She grinned, holding out her arms for the attention.

“Here I am!” she exclaimed. “Miss me?”

“Of course!” a woman with curly black hair replied. “And we’ve  _ seen  _ your son, but I don’t believe we’ve met yet.”

“Oh, Caroline,” another mom that he recognized as Zubeia said, giving her friend a friendly tap on the arm. “He’s been busy with his girlfriend, he doesn’t want to spend the hour with us.”

Sarai turned to Callum, eyebrows raised. “Girlfriend, huh? I haven’t heard about one.”

“She’s not one,” Callum mumbled, feeling heat creep up his neck as he stared at the floor. “Rayla and I are just friends.”

Her expression softened, eyes a little more alight than Callum wanted them to be. “Rayla’s a great girl. You’ve found a good friend.”

Callum let some of the tension out of his shoulders, and as Sarai took a seat, he took the one next to her. It was only going to be a half hour. He could handle it, as long as they didn’t spend the whole time trying to get him to admit to something that wasn’t going on.

He opened his sketchbook to a fresh page and started absently dragging his pencil across the paper. Part of his brain recognized that Zubeia made a comment about him being an artist, but Sarai responded quickly enough that he didn’t need to pay much attention. She would probably tell them that he was applying to Spire U (and was kind enough not to mention to them that he hadn’t gotten in before), which allowed him to keep his attention on his sketch.

It quickly became a drawing of his parents, arms around each other and laughing over a jelly tart. Sarai said nothing about the drawing, but bumped her shoulder against his and offered a smile.

He had just started detailing the drawing when the classroom door opened and the kids ran in all directions from the room, followed by Ezran, who gave Callum finger guns before swapping his ballet shoes for tap.

Rayla stood leaning against the door frame. She had a smile on her face, but there was a rigidity in it. Instead of her usual loose posture, she looked tense, like she was under more stress than normal. Maybe the kids had been extra difficult to deal with.

“Have fun with your friend,” Sarai said as Callum stood.

He gave her an awkward smile and followed Rayla into her classroom, closing the door behind him like he always did.

“It’s so sweet that you and Sarai both came this week,” Rayla told him, sitting down behind the computer. She was shuffling her leg.

Shrugging, Callum replied, “Yeah, I guess. She seems glad to see the other moms. It’s just weird to have her here.” He let out a chuckle.

“I’m sure.” Her laugh was airy, and not quite sincere. There was definitely something off.

Knitting his eyebrows together, Callum asked, “Are you okay? You seem stressed.”

A little too quickly, she said, “Fine! I’m fine!” As if to emphasize how okay she was, she grinned. It didn’t reach her eyes.

“Rayla.” She was avoiding his eyes, but had stopped shuffling her leg. Callum leaned toward her and brushed his hand against her arm. “What’s going on? Is it your math class? Your competition isn’t for a couple months, right?” Was something going on at home? What could possibly put her in this state?

She let out a breath, her shoulders falling. When she spoke, her voice was quieter than he had ever heard it. “Opeli just told me that there are going to be talent scouts at the competition. Talent scouts look for people to recruit to professional dance troupes. So my performance will be more of an audition to tell the talent scouts that I’m worth looking into, and then the gala afterwards is going to be much higher stakes than usual, because that’s when they’re going to be approaching people about scouting.” Her tone was growing frantic as she continued. “It’s good that I’m taking Ethari as my plus one, because people love when talent brings a parent as their guest, even though Ethari’s not really my dad, but he’s better to bring than Runaan, because Ethari’s so much nicer, but it doesn’t matter how nice Ethari and I are to scouts - if my performance is lacking at all, then I’ll never have a shot, and-”

“Okay!” Callum cut her off. Her hands had been waving, and he caught one in his, drawing her attention to him. “We’re gonna take a deep breath, alright?”

Her eyes closed, she took a slow, even breath in. Once she let it out, she opened her eyes once more and gave Callum an awkward smile, trying to tug her hand away. “Sorry. I’ll be fine. How’re you?”

He shook his head, keeping a firm grip on her hand. “Hey. Don’t change the subject. You’re panicking. That’s okay, let me help you.”

Shaking her own head, she replied, “No, I have to keep it together. Panicking won’t do me any good, it’ll ruin my focus.”

Callum sighed, trying not to roll his eyes. He was all too familiar with this line of thinking in his own head. “That’s not true. You’re allowed to break down. The question is if you have a plan for how to calm down and keep yourself thinking clearly.”

She relaxed her hand, wrapping her fingers around his, and looked down at the floor. “Opeli and I already decided that I’ll stay late tonight so she can help me refine my routine. And I’m going to meet with her more frequently.” Her eyes flicked up to his for a moment. “And...would you mind taking a video of me so I can review it myself?”

He offered a comforting smile and stroked the back of her hand with his thumb. “Absolutely.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, the next chapter picks up right where this one ends.
> 
> Edit: [@Blue-potatoo on Tumblr did a beautiful rendition of Callum's portfolio centerpiece!!](https://blue-potatoo.tumblr.com/post/612501074798133248/sitting-in-the-coffee-shop-with-rayla-after)


	10. Now's Our Moment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum stays late with Rayla at the studio.

The music piece came to an end, and Rayla, panting, hit her final pose. Callum lowered her phone when he stopped recording her, then handed it back to her.

“Thanks,” she breathed, choosing not to look at the video quite yet.

“You feeling any better?” he asked as she sat back down.

With a shrug, she replied, “A bit.” Maybe it was because she’d gotten some of the excess energy out of her body, or maybe it was because Callum had made her say what her plan was. Having a plan usually didn’t calm her down, but she was truly feeling better, if only by a margin. Maybe it was both of those things. Maybe it was neither. She’d still been tense when Callum came in, but it had lessened pretty quickly upon having him across from her. He seemed to know his way around calming people down. His mere presence was soothing - he didn’t have any expectations from her, and she didn’t sense the slightest bit of judgment from him.

She couldn’t think of anyone better she would want with her in her panic. Usually, she wouldn’t even let Runaan or Ethari see her like this. It was nice to know that she could let down that wall in front of Callum.

“I’ll watch the video with Opeli tonight,” she mumbled, running her thumb along the edge of her phone. And having Opeli with her would definitely be good. But she didn’t have the same sort of presence that Callum had.

“Rayla.” His tone was patient. She dared to look at him. “What do you need? I want to help you.”

Nothing, she wanted to tell him. His being here with her is enough. He’s already done plenty in calming her down. The rest is on her.

“Would you stay here?” she blurted. “After classes are over? Just...stay while I work with Opeli?” Before he could say no, she rushed, “I’ll order dinner for you, and I know you came with Ezran and Sarai, but I can drive you home. I can make it up to you at some point, get you coffee again. I understand if you can’t stay, but...I would really like you to.”

He didn’t miss a beat before saying, “Of course.” With a cheeky grin, he added, “It won’t help my case that you and I aren’t dating, but it’s fine, Ez is the only one who’ll give me crap over it, and I’d much rather make sure you’re okay than avoid teasing from my little brother.” He stood up and popped the door open, quickly informing Sarai that he would be getting a ride home, and she and Ezran could leave whenever they were ready.

“Thank you,” Rayla murmured, allowing a smile on her lips. “You don’t know how much it means to me.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he replied, digging his phone out of his pocket. “Here, it’s distraction time.”

She felt herself perk up, trying to peek over the computer stand at his screen. “A drawing?”

“Maybe.” He angled his phone so she couldn’t see, making her pout. “I sent in my application to Spire U just before coming to the studio, and I want you to see the final version of that drawing from Starbucks.”

Bouncing in her seat, she exclaimed, “You applied! When do you find out if you get in?” This was good, not just for him and his future, but for keeping her mind away from her own worries.

“December. It’ll be at least six weeks before I get a response. Here.” He handed his phone over.

She grabbed it from him and held it close to her eyes, trying to take in every detail at once. The drawing of her had her chin in her hand, grinning across at him. The lighting of the scene made her feel warm, like she was sitting in the Starbucks once more, enveloped by her sweater, glad to be in the company of someone who made her smile like that.

He always seemed to make her look like  _ more _ than she felt she was. Whatever it was he saw in her, he cranked it all the way up and made it beautiful. Whatever it was he saw in her, whatever drew him to her, she wasn’t sure, but her heart filled with gratitude. He had chosen to chase what he saw, and she got an amazing friend out of it.

“You never cease to amaze me,” she said, handing his phone back and pulling herself out of her trance. 

He smiled, a blush dusting his cheeks. “Thanks. And thanks to you, I think Spire U will be much more impressed this time around.”

Gently shoving him by the shoulder, she exclaimed, “They better! If they don’t, I’ll personally have  _ words _ with the dean of admissions. I’ll make sure you get in, no matter who I have to kill.”

Callum laughed. “Maybe don’t go so far as to kill people, but I’m sure you could scare anyone into doing your bidding.”

She sat up a little bit straighter, dramatically flipping the strands of hair that had fallen around her face. “Glad you understand where my real talents lie. I should’ve been an assassin. Or a bodyguard. But instead, I chose ballerina.”

“Ballerina is scary too. You’re stronger and more flexible than I’ll ever be.”

For the hour that he was with her, she noticed that her heart rate slowed. Tension slowly left her. She was able to talk and laugh with him instead of stress about the scouts. While the new information about the competition never fully left her mind, she was glad for the distraction.

She had three more classes to teach before the studio closed. Callum dutifully sat outside the classroom with his sketchbook while she wrangled kids. Knowing that he was out there, while it didn’t keep her particularly focused, did do wonders for keeping her calm.

Between classes, when she was letting kids out of the classroom, Callum was waiting for her with a wrapped sandwich in his hand.

“Since we’re staying late,” he said, holding it out to her, “I ordered dinner for us.”

Now that she thought about it, she was pretty hungry. She didn’t usually realize until she was about to go home, but she wouldn’t be able to eat Ethari’s leftovers tonight.

She sighed, taking the sandwich and squeezing his hand. “Thank you.”

“You don’t need to keep thanking me,” he assured her. “Go ahead and eat what you can before your next class.”

Looking at the clock told her that she had a few minutes. Before she let herself sit down and eat, she rushed into the back office to let Opeli know that Callum would be staying past closing time, and that there was no need to kick him out. Only then did she let herself take a few bites of the sandwich - somehow Callum knew exactly the right type to get her - before her twelve year olds started filing in.

Luckily, the rest of the classes went as smoothly as they could with kids following a semi-distracted teacher. They didn’t need to be herded like the little ones did, and they were far enough into the school year that they knew what was going on without Rayla needing to give too much direction.

When the last student left at nine, Rayla locked the front door and dashed back to her classroom, grabbing her pointe shoes and Callum along the way. He sat in his usual seat as Opeli took hers. They reviewed the video Callum took of her, and Rayla let Opeli skim through and point things out that needed to change, such as, “That fouette was rushed,” or “You sickled your foot here. All these years, Rayla, I thought we were past sickling.” It all probably sounded like gibberish to Callum, but he sat quietly and endured it.

Next was to put into practice the critiques that Opeli had, and practice her routine again - over and over and over. Rayla lost track of how many times she went through the routine, changing it almost every time to make it flow better, to make it more impressive to judges, to make it best for her and for the music piece.

After the who-knows-how-many-th time she finished going through the routine, panting, sweating, and shaking, she cast a glance at Callum. He hadn’t said a word since the practice session had begun, but his gaze was fixed to her, and he had a starry-eyed look that made her already-pounding heart skip a beat. She couldn’t remember a time that anyone had looked at her like that while she was dancing. Was that how she looked when he showed her his drawings?

“Okay,” Opeli finally said, looking Rayla up and down. “You’re exhausted. Go get some rest, and we’ll keep working on another day, alright?” 

Rayla nodded, raking stray hairs out of her face, and shut down the work laptop before stepping out of the classroom to make her way to her locker.

“You doing okay?” Callum asked, catching up to her. He held out the other half of the sandwich she never finished. Her fingers were trembling as she took it from him, and worry laced his voice as he continued, “You worked yourself really hard. Do you need me to drive?”

She shook her head, swapping her pointe shoes for street shoes, and throwing on her jacket without bothering to change out of her leotard. “I’ll be alright. But thanks.” Turning to him, she managed a smile. “And I can’t thank you enough for staying with me. I know it’s late.”

With a roll of his eyes and a scoff, he countered, “It’s only like ten. And besides, it was time well-spent. I got to watch you dance.”

“Alright, you dork,” she laughed, giving him a gentle shove as she led him to her car. “You trying to charm me or something? I already told you I’m going to pay you back somehow for this, you don’t have to try and get me to do it.”

He shrugged, climbing into her car, and gave her a sly grin. “I’m not looking for you to repay me, but if you decided to take me on an extravagant date, I wouldn’t exactly say no.” Less than a second after he said it, his eyes widened.

Before he could ramble about not meaning it, she was laughing again. “Okay then, someday I’ll take you on the best date of your life.” She unlocked her phone, pulled up maps, and handed her phone to Callum for him to type in his address.

“Won’t be hard,” he said, his voice taking on a more hesitant tone as he found the directions and put her phone into its mount. “You don’t have any dates to outdo.”

“Really?” She raised an eyebrow, backing out of her parking space. “Not even with that girl you post artsy pictures of on Instagram?”

“Nah.” He shook his head. “I had a crush on her when I was like fourteen, but that’s it. She’s always been a good friend. She’s Soren’s sister.”

With a snort, Rayla joked, “Then it’s good you didn’t get involved with her. I don’t know Soren well, but what I do know about him is that he’s dumb as a sack of rocks.” Maybe...insulting his friend wasn’t the best plan. But there was no taking it back now.

Luckily, he chuckled at that. “You’re not wrong. But at least he knows it.”

They were in front of his house far too quickly for her liking, her car idling in the driveway. He didn’t get out right away.

“I know you told me to stop thanking you so much,” she muttered. “But...thanks. It means a lot that you were there. You helped me calm down, and I really appreciate how much you’re supporting me through all this stress.”

“It’s no problem at all,” he replied, his voice soft. “Really, it’s not. I’m happy to stay with you whenever you need me, it’s not a big deal. I didn’t even do anything but sit there, but if that’s what you need, then I’m always available to sit with you.”

“Sitting with me helps.” Whether in the classroom or in her car, it helped. She silently wished that they could spend more time together.

A silence passed between them. His hands were fidgeting, but not moving toward the door handle. For just a moment, she caught him glancing at her from the side, then quickly focusing his eyes back on his hands.

She leaned across the console and wrapped her arms around him. He stiffened for just a second before returning the hug, his arms tight around her middle. Rayla wasn’t sure how she didn’t notice before, but in her close proximity to him, she noticed he smelled faintly of fresh pine and something else she wasn’t sure of. Whatever it was, he smelled wonderful, especially in comparison to how she probably smelled after dancing so hard.

When they parted, a ghost of a smile was on his lips, and she felt one on her own. 

“Thanks for the ride,” Callum whispered. “Get home safe, okay?”

“No problem,” Rayla replied. “Have a good night, Callum.”

He gathered his things and climbed out of the car. Rayla chose to stay in the driveway to make sure he got inside; so when he opened the front door, he turned to her and waved. She waved back, though she knew he couldn’t see her in the dark.

She told her phone to take her home, then pulled out of the driveway, her brain in a fog. After a practice session like that, it wasn’t unusual for her to feel foggy, but not like this. This was something different, and she was pretty sure it had something to do with Callum. Something was different between them.

What  _ was _ that?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)


	11. The Room's Hush Hush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The week of the competition, a problem arises.

No light was coming through his blinds when Callum cracked his eyes open. What time was it? He shouldn’t be awake yet, there was no reason for him to-

Oh.

His foggy state finally allowed him to process that his phone was ringing. He grabbed it off his nightstand and squinted at the screen. Rayla’s name was flashing at him, and he managed to see that it was two-thirty in the morning. What was she doing calling so late?

They’d gotten plenty close in the past several weeks since she found out about the talent scouts, with Callum frequently talking Rayla down from a panic about the competition growing ever-closer. Something had definitely changed that night he stayed at the studio with her, and it was undoubtedly for the better. They enjoyed each other before, but now Callum could confidently call her one of his closest friends. People don’t break down in panic to just anyone, and Rayla had made a habit of texting him as soon as she started to feel anxious, no matter what time it was. Callum started keeping his ringer on full volume so he could text her back in the middle of the night. She didn’t need to know that it woke him up. As long as she felt okay by the end of the conversation.

She had never called this late, though. His stomach lurched.

Sliding the icon to answer, he mumbled, “Ray? What’s up?”

“Oh my gosh, I woke you up,” were the first words he heard. “I’m sorry, go back to sleep, I’ll text you in the morning-”

“No,” he cut her off, rubbing his eyes and turning on his bedside lamp. “You called me for a reason. What’s wrong?”

There was a short pause before she told him, “I’m at the hospital with Ethari.”

He sat upright in bed. “What? Are you okay? What’s going on?” The competition was this coming weekend - would she be able to dance?

“I’m fine!” she rushed. “It’s Ethari, he’s really sick. The doctor said it’s a nasty case of bronchitis, so he’s not contagious, but there’s no way he can come to the competition this weekend, and Runaan can’t come either because he’s at a conference, but I literally can’t go alone, if not because of the galadance - and Ethari’s the only one who  _ knows _ the dance - then because I need someone there for my sake, because I’ll bet you my left foot that I’ll be panicking the whole day of the competition, and it’s not like I can ask Opeli to come this last minute, she’s got the studio to look after and no one to cover for her, so-”

“Rayla. Breathe.” He listened as she took a breath and let it out slowly. “What do you need? You know I’ll help you with anything.”

Her voice cracked as she told him, “I need someone to come with me to the competition and gala. I need a plus one for the gala, and someone to be there and support me. It was supposed to be Ethari - it’s  _ always _ Ethari - but with how sick he is, he’s not getting on a plane, let alone dancing at a gala. I really,  _ really _ hate asking this of you, especially so last minute, but would you be my plus one? The plane ticket, the hotel room, and food are all taken care of, we’ve only got one room reserved, but it’s got two beds, you won’t have to worry about money or anything, and I’ll give you a crash course in the dance for the gala. I just...I need you.”

Those words made is heart flutter in his chest. It didn’t do that as much as it used to, but when it did, he noticed it all the more. “I don’t have any plans this weekend. I’ll clear it with my parents and come with you.”

He heard her let out a breath, and it almost sounded like she was about to burst into tears when she said, “ _ Thank you _ .”

Tears weren’t something he ever thought about in relation to Rayla, but with the way that sound tugged at his chest, he decided that he never wanted to hear her cry. Or, if he did hear or see her cry, he was going to destroy whatever had made her upset. The world needed her wonderful, melodic laugh. Not her tears. And he would make sure that she cried as few times as humanly possible for the rest of her life.

“It’s not a problem,” he replied. “It’s exciting! This is gonna be a fantastic trip, and we’re gonna have plenty of fun. I’m not very coordinated, so I can’t promise that I’ll be great at the dance, but I swear I’ll do my best.”

She chuckled. “Your best is all I can ask for. Besides, the gala dance doesn’t matter, it’s just a formality, so I don’t care if it’s perfect. I just care that you’ll be with me.”

He felt his cheeks heat, but said, “I’ll be with you through anything.”

“I’d kill a man for you, Callum.” He laughed, but she continued, a grin in her tone, “I’m serious! Need me to take anyone out for you? It’s the least I can do for you flying out of state with me on short notice!”

“I don’t need anyone killed for me, but thanks, I’ll let you know if anything comes up and I need an assassin,” he snickered.

“You know where to find me when you need a murder. Hey, would you be able to come over to my place in the morning so I can teach you the dance? Ethari isn’t contagious, so you don’t have to worry about getting sick, but since Runaan still has to work, I want to make sure I’m home to take care of him.”

“Yeah. Text me the time and address, and I’ll be there. I’ll fill my parents in about what’s going on before I go over to your place, so we should be in the clear by the time I see you.”

“Perfect. Thank you, Callum, I can’t express how thankful I am for you.”

“You still haven’t taken me out on an extravagant date,” he teased. “You could express your gratitude with that.”

She laughed and asked, “Does a gala in another state on an all-expenses-paid trip not count as an extravagant date?”

“Hmm, you got me there. Alright, I’ll take this whole trip as your gratitude.”

“You’re a gigantic dork. Oh - yeah? We’re good? Callum, I have to go, the doctor’s discharging Ethari, so I’ve got to drive us home. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Drive home safe, and tell Ethari I hope he feels better soon.”

“I will. Now go back to sleep.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice. Night, Rayla.”

“G’night!”

They hung up, and Callum quickly typed out a text before putting his phone back on his nightstand so he could fall back asleep.

_ [Callum (2:41am)] Hey Clauds, can we take a rain check on game night this weekend? I know I was supposed to meet Corvus, and Soren was excited to play that game he got, but Rayla really needs me to go out of town with her this weekend. Can we do game night next week instead? _

_ [Claudia (7:55am)] OWO _

_ [Claudia (7:55am)] OF COURSE WE CAN RESCHEDULE, YOU’RE GOING OUT OF TOWN WITH RAYLA _

_ [Claudia (7:56am)] I EXPECT DETAILS AND FOR YOU TO BRING HER TO THE NEXT GAME NIGHT (≧◡≦) (*∀*)人(*∀*) _


	12. Why I Feel This Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayla and Ethari teach Callum the dance for the gala.

Rayla downed the last of her coffee and headed back to the kitchen for a refill. She had her earbuds in, playing her performance piece loudly enough to block out the rest of the world. Her feet absently took her through a parsed version of her routine on the kitchen tile before she poured the coffee into her mug.

She passed by Ethari, who said something she couldn’t hear. Taking out an earbud, she asked, “What was that?”

“I said, don’t you think you should slow down on the coffee?” he repeated, punctuating his question with a few coughs. 

“No way.” She shook her head, shifting her weight from one foot to another. “I’m running on two hours of sleep, and I need to teach a new partner the dance that you and I have been learning for  _ months _ . Plus, you’re sick, Runaan won’t be home until late tomorrow, and I’m not about to let you fend for yourself, and Callum’ll be here any minute. There’s no slowing down anytime before the end of the gala on Saturday.” 

Her eyes darted around the room. Was there enough room for her to teach Callum the dance? Was the room clean? Would he care if it was clean? As someone with such an eye for detail, he was probably a really neat person, but he was also really forgiving, so did it matter if the place was spotless or not? Would he assume that she had just been too busy taking care of Ethari?

Perhaps there was another reason she wasn’t able to sit still. It felt so strange to know that Callum was going to be in her home in just a few minutes. Were they there yet? They’d been friends for a few months now, they’d hung out, she knew his family, but they had never gone into each other’s houses. Though, since he was flying out of town with her, she could only infer that they absolutely  _ were _ at that point in their friendship, and that they had just skipped a few steps.

When Ethari’s coughing fit pulled her out of her thoughts, she questioned, “Do you need anything before he gets here?”

He sighed. “Don’t worry about me, Rayla, I’m not dying. You don’t need to take care of me, I can handle it. I’ll stay here and help you teach Callum his part of the dance.”

“Nope.” Shaking her head, she told him, “You don’t need to help him, you need to rest. And besides, I’m not about to ignore you and what you might need when you’re sick. So if you need  _ anything _ , you let me know, alright?” She jabbed her finger in his direction for emphasis.

With something between a laugh and a cough, he replied, “You’re the boss.”

The doorbell rang, and Rayla jumped, some of her coffee spilling out of her mug and onto her hand. She swore as Ethari laughed at her, and scrambled to the door, coffee dripping off her hand.

She opened the door and greeted, “Callum! Hi! Come in! Shoes off, please.”

He stepped inside and slipped his shoes off while Rayla trotted into the kitchen to get a paper towel to mop up the stray coffee, and so she could set her mug down and collect herself. Callum didn’t need to know that she had been in full panic mode all morning. He’d dealt with her panic more than enough ever since that day in October. She could at least pretend to be calm for him.

“You must be Callum,” she heard Ethari say from the other room. “Pleasure to meet you, I’m Ethari.”

“Great to meet you too! I brought muffins for you guys,” he said, following Rayla into the kitchen. “I know what kind of muffins you like, Ray, but I wasn’t sure what kind of muffins Ethari would want, so I got a variety.”

“You’re the  _ best _ , did you know that?” she said, catching his hand and pulling him closer for her to lean her head on his shoulder.

One of his arms wrapped around her and he chuckled. “You could stand to mention it more.”

She tilted her head so she was still leaning on him but could see his face. “You’re the best.”

“So’re you.” He took a step away, pulling her to the center of the room with him. “I filled my parents in. My mom had to convince my dad that I’ll be fine, and I got some merciless teasing from Ezran, but it’s all set. Only thing left to do is pack. And, uh…” An awkward smile on his lips, he prompted, “And learn this dance, I guess.”

“Okay. Um.” She felt Ethari’s eyes on her back as he shuffled around behind her to grab a muffin. Turning to him, she asked, “Do you have to be here for this? Shouldn’t you be resting?”

His mouth full, he said, “I’ll leave if you want, but I think it’ll do you best to accept my help.”

Callum squeezed her hand, still joined to his. “I need all the help I can get. I don’t mind Ethari being here.”

Ethari cast her a smug look, and she rolled her eyes. 

“Alright.” Rayla dug her phone out of her pocket and tossed it to Ethari. “Then you’re in charge of music. The file’s saved in my music folder.” She caught Callum’s free hand and put a bit of distance between them. “We’ll be closer when we actually do the dance, but I want you to be able to see what our feet are doing, okay? And you don’t need to worry about leading. I’ll lead you.”

He nodded, and Rayla began to guide him through the steps. As expected, he was hesitant and clumsy, but quick to follow. Lucky for them, the dance had a base step to fall back into, so there wasn’t a ton that Callum needed to learn. 

When it seemed like he had a handle on the basic step, she instructed him, “Keep going,” and lifted their hands above her head so she could spin and come back to him. When she returned to the original position, however, he had stopped moving.

“Sorry,” he muttered, grinning sheepishly. “I just...need a bit to be able to do that without you doing it too. The coordination of the steps, and the arms, and you, it’s just, uh, a lot for a non-dancer.”

“That’s fine,” she assured him. “And besides, this doesn’t have to be perfect. As long as you mostly know the steps, we can step on each other’s toes as much as much as we want. Plus, eyes aren’t going to be on you. They’ll be on me.” At the reminder she didn’t intend to give herself, she seized, her eyes trained on their feet.

Callum’s hand went to her shoulder. “Hey. Breathe. Focus on me, okay?”

She looked back up at him, locking her gaze with his as she carefully inhaled to make sure that she was still breathing. His beautiful green eyes weren’t hard to focus on. Within seconds, she could feel her heart rate returning to normal.

“Better?” Callum asked, a smile tugging at his lips.

With a nod, Rayla returned his smile and pulled him closer so she could put one hand on his shoulder and place his on her back. “Better. Ethari, would you put the music on for us?”

It only took a second for the music to come through her phone, and Rayla began to lead Callum once more, talking him through the dance. “Step back. Left. Now I spin, and come back to you - dip me - there you go…” He brought her back up, and her foot landed on his, making her stumble and stifle a laugh. She usually wasn’t the one to be stepping on someone else’s feet.

“Clumsy much?” Callum teased, stabilizing her. “I thought you were supposed to be the dancer between the two of us.”

She rolled her eyes, but couldn’t help the smile that made its way onto her face. “Your foot was too far forward, Twinkle Toes.”

“Tell yourself whatever you need to feel better.” 

“I mean, it already makes me feel pretty good that you’re doing the basic step while talking to me instead of focusing on our feet.”

His eyes widened and he glanced down at their feet. Sure enough, he was doing the basic step just fine. To test how well he could keep it up, she did her spin again, and when she returned to her hand on his shoulder, he hadn’t stopped moving - but his cheeks were flushed pink.

Trying to distract herself from that, she praised him, “Good job! Do you wanna take a break for lunch? We can work on that part that got rocky afterward.”

“Sounds good,” Callum agreed, lifting her hand once more to spin her.

She trotted into the kitchen, first refilling her coffee cup, and next digging around in the fridge for leftovers of whatever she and Ethari had ordered for dinner the previous night. She put it all onto three separate plates to throw into the microwave.

“Do you want some coffee?” Rayla offered Callum. “I can make another pot, I’ll probably be drinking more later.”

His brow furrowed, he asked, “How many cups of coffee have you had today?”

Looking at her mug, she thought for a moment, then popped her head back into the living room. “Ethari, how many cups of coffee have I had?”

“Four, counting that one,” he replied almost immediately.

“Rayla.” Callum chuckled and gently took the mug from her hand. “It’s only noon. Take it easy.”

She scoffed, taking the first plate out of the microwave and handing it to Callum. “The competition is in two days. ‘Take it easy’ isn’t in my vocabulary right now. I’ll just crash afterwards and sleep for like, a day, and be fine.”

When the second plate of food was done, Callum carried it to the living room for Ethari and asked, “Does she always get like this for competitions?”

“Usually not this badly. She’s more stressed because I won’t be there.”

“Don’t worry about me,” Rayla whined, grabbing her own food. “I’m fine, you know I’ll be fine. Let me be in over-caffeinated panic mode, and I’ll be back to normal on Monday.”

Callum rolled his eyes. “Rayla, I’m your friend, and this is practically your dad. We’re gonna worry about you, no matter what you say.”

“Don’t encourage him,” she sighed. “He worries about me enough.”

An offended tone to his voice, Ethari replied, “Of course I worry about my little girl! Especially because this is the first competition I won’t be able to come to.” He paused for a second before asking, “Do you know what you’re going to do about your hair?”

She swore under her breath. Ethari had done her hair for performances for as long as she could remember. No matter how many times she tried, she could never do a ballerina bun on herself. Runaan was fairly good at it, but Ethari was the only one who really knew how to do it right.

“Once we’re finished eating,” Ethari suggested, “I’ll teach Callum how to do it.”

That...was an option she hadn’t considered. The thought of it made her cheeks heat up. But why? She and Callum were so comfortable around each other now, he was flying out of town with her, she was just teaching him to dance. Why was it that the thought of him doing her hair was the thing to make her tense?

When they finished their food and Rayla deposited everyone’s dishes into the kitchen, she retrieved the things needed to style her hair, and sat on the floor in front of Ethari. Callum sat next to him to observe. Was this even going to work? Getting the bun perfect required a lot of practice, and there was no way that someone who was just learning it now would have it right in time for the competition.

Yet she sat still, letting Ethari style her hair and explain (between coughing fits) how to do it, step by step. He then unraveled the bun and tapped on Rayla’s shoulder for her to shift in front of Callum. She was never so glad to be facing away from them, because the moment she felt Callum’s hands on her hair, her heart skipped a beat, and didn’t need a mirror to know that she was flushed. His fingers weren’t as skilled as Ethari’s, not used to doing anyone’s hair, much less in such a precise style. But he was gentle, trying not to tug too hard, and careful to tuck each piece where it was supposed to go.

Was his sweet, gentle touch the thing that was making her so nervous? Or was it the fact that she was running on three and a half cups of coffee and two hours of sleep, with a competition two days away?

Either way, she had the feeling that she would get her answer by the end of the weekend.


	13. Do You Hear That, Love?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum and Rayla have an early-morning flight.

It only felt as though Callum had been asleep for a few minutes by the time his alarm went off and he dragged himself out of bed. He packed his bag the previous night, so all he had to do was slip into some fresh clothes and grab his things.

Just as he finished fumbling his way through changing clothes, his phone buzzed with a text.

_ [Rayla (5:46am)] im outside _

_ [Callum (5:46am)] Be out in just a sec. _

He pulled his jacket on and emerged from his room to find the living room light already on. Sometimes he forgot how early his dad woke up for work.

Harrow lowered the book he was reading and raised his cup of coffee toward Callum with an encouraging smile. “Have a safe trip. Knock em dead.”

“Thanks,” Callum said, his voice still gravelly with sleep. 

Rayla’s car was running in the driveway, and when they made eye contact, she reached down to release the trunk for him to put his bag in the back. He dug in his backpack for a moment before extracting what he wanted, closed the trunk, then rounded to the passenger seat. He sat down and buckled in, bumping his head against her shoulder in greeting.

“Thanks again for doing this for me,” she muttered. “I feel a little calmer, knowing that you’ll be with me.”

“Happy to be of service,” he replied, offering her a cheeky grin, then wrapped around her neck the red scarf from his backpack, and put the green one on himself. At her surprised expression, he told her, “Matching scarves. Each other's' favorite colors.”

She smiled softly, making Callum’s heart leap, but said nothing as she backed out of the driveway.

The rest of the ride to the airport was quiet. Callum dozed off once or twice, and was only barely able to process when they arrived at the airport. He followed Rayla’s lead in getting their bags and finding their place in the terminal to be ready to board their plane. In his current bleary state, he didn’t trust himself to do anything on his own.

Luckily, they had a little while to wait before boarding, and Callum was able to sit and relax for a few minutes.

What he noticed, however, was that Rayla wasn’t relaxing with him. He sat on a bench, and there was plenty of room next to him, but she was pacing and fidgeting with her hands. Now that he looked more closely at her, she looked paler than usual, and her eyes were definitely bloodshot.

As she passed in front of him, he caught her hand, looking up at her with his brow furrowed in worry. He asked, “Ray, did you get any sleep last night?”

She stilled for a moment, but didn’t look at him. After a few seconds, she shook her head.

Tugging gently on her hand, he softened his voice and said, “Would you try to get some sleep on the plane?”

Her red eyes flicked to meet his, then away again. “I’ll try.”

That was better than nothing, he supposed. The competition wasn’t until tomorrow anyway, so he could make sure that she slept that night. She had mentioned that they would be sharing a room, so it would be easy to keep an eye on her and make sure that she wasn’t up too late or too early.

They were on the plane by seven in the morning, and settled into their seats. Callum, through his tiredness, was excited to have a window seat, and Rayla, unfortunately, was stuck in the middle of the row. She didn’t seem to pay it much mind, focusing much more on her phone while she shuffled her leg.

“Hey.” Callum put a hand on her shoulder. “You’re gonna try to sleep, right?”

She rolled her eyes at him. “Yes, Callum, I’m going to sleep. You don’t need to keep worrying about me.”

“I can  _ still _ guarantee that I’m always going to worry about you, but go off, I guess.” He stretched and slid down in his seat to try and get some more rest himself. She was nearly twenty; he had to trust that she was old enough to know when she needed to stop and rest instead of working herself too hard.

What sleep he did get wasn’t particularly restful. Callum had never slept well on planes, but a bit of sleep was better than none. Which, when he woke up about an hour later and looked at Rayla, was the amount he assumed she got.

She was sitting forward in her seat, elbows on her knees, eyes fixed on the back of the seat in front of her with her headphones in. He had been seeing this level of focus more and more the closer the competition got.

Sitting up, he took one of her earbuds, making her jump, so he could hear what she was listening to. As he suspected, it was the composition for her performance.

Callum sighed. “Rayla, you need to get some rest, or else you won’t be able to actually  _ do _ your dance. You know your routine as well as you know yourself.”

“I need to know it  _ better _ ,” she grumbled, snatching her earbud back.

“Nope. No. I’m cutting you off.” Before she could react, he seized her phone from her hand (usually, she would have been faster than him. The lack of sleep was probably making her slower) and opened up her music. Instead of fighting him, she crossed her arms and pouted at him until he selected a calm playlist that he made for her about a month before. It didn’t have any of the music she’d be hearing at the competition or gala, so it would hopefully keep her mind off of it.

Sarcasm dripping from her tone, she commented, “What, you think you can just change the music and I’ll forget about everything?”

“Just come here. You can practice later, but right now, you  _ need _ some sleep.” He folded up the armrest between them and shifted so his back was against the wall, holding out his arms to her.

She rolled her eyes. “I don’t need you to-”

“Yes you do, or else you would’ve rested when you said you would.” 

Reaching for her new red scarf around her neck, he pulled her to lay against him. She went rigid, one hand pressing against his chest as she tried halfheartedly to sit back up. Gently, Callum wrapped one arm around her and leaned his cheek against the top of her head, using his free hand to run his fingers through her hair. It only took her another second before she loosened, slipping one arm behind Callum’s back, letting the other rest on his chest while she settled her head in the crook of his neck, letting him more easily lean against her.

Within a minute, she was limp against him, with the soft, even breaths of sleep.

He didn’t have to keep running his fingers through her hair, he considered. She was asleep. He didn’t have to lean against the top of her head. He could pull his phone out of his easily-accessible pocket and scroll through Instagram. He could try to get some more sleep himself.

Nothing was making him stay as he was, as long as he didn’t wake Rayla.

He tightened the arm around her, just a bit. 

His heart rate picked up, and he winced, not sure how light of a sleeper she was. Would she stir, feeling the change in his heart?

When she didn’t, he sighed.

Why was his heart beating so hard and fast anyway? It hadn’t done that around her in a while. Maybe, he thought, it was because he had never really cuddled so close with someone like this. It was a foreign feeling to have someone sleeping on his chest, so comfortable with the closeness. It was certainly nice to hold her like this. But it was something to adjust to. Maybe he would get used to it. 

But getting used to it would mean laying with her like this again. Was that in the plan?

Well, if it wasn’t before…

He told himself when they met that she was out of his league. That there was no way anything between them would ever work. So he learned to relax around her, to be her friend, first and foremost. And being her friend had proven to be more rewarding than he ever imagined it would be.

Though, with his pounding heart and desire to hold her like this for as long as possible, the part of his brain that he’d tried so hard to suppress was refusing to be ignored any longer. It had broken out of the stronghold he erected in his mind, and was running free around his head, screaming the declaration that he couldn’t help but accept.

He was in love with Rayla.

It didn’t matter if she was out of his league or not. She proved time and time again that she didn’t care about ‘leagues’ or social status. She was a kind person who just wanted a connection with someone her age. Callum considered himself more than lucky to be that person with whom she could connect. 

Part of him wondered if she needed him as much as he needed her. Probably not, but she clearly cared about him anyway, and wanted him around. Even if she didn’t care about him in the same way he cared for her, did it really matter? He was in love with her. And as such, he was going to give her all the support she needed. It didn’t matter if she loved him back. All that mattered was that he gave her the love that she deserved.

There was no way for him to tell exactly what awaited him on this trip. He couldn’t determine how anything was going to play out. 

As a person who had been anxious for his whole life, that would usually terrify him. But this time, his heart leapt in excitement.

Softly, careful not to wake her, Callum shifted and pressed a kiss to the top of Rayla’s head, then settled into her again.

For the remainder of the plane ride, Callum drifted in and out of consciousness. Each time he was awake, he remembered that he had Rayla in his arms, and delighted about it every time. For now, right here, she was his to hold and love.

All too soon, the announcement came that the plane would be landing shortly. When Rayla didn’t stir, he pushed himself up, easing her up as well. With a groan, she sat up and rubbed her eyes, then blinked through the sleep and gave Callum a sleepy, lopsided grin, making his heart clench. Wow, she was adorable. He could definitely do with more sleepy Rayla in his life.

“We’re about to land,” he told her, reaching up to tuck a stray bit of hair behind her ear. “You can get more rest at the hotel.”

She nodded, fastening her seatbelt, and joked, “That was the best nap I’ve had in years.”

“Obviously,” Callum teased, gesturing to himself. “I have a magic touch.”

With a snort, she replied, “Then you might have to use it on me more often if I’m ever going to get regular sleep.”

He could live with that.


	14. We're Doing This Right

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After arriving at the hotel, Rayla decides to get some more practice in.

“What do you  _ mean _ , there was a mixup in the system?”

Rayla was seething. It didn’t help that she felt  _ worse _ after only sleeping for an hour or two on the plane. It wasn’t this attendant’s fault, but she couldn’t keep her anger from boiling over.

“I’m so sorry,” the attendant rushed, frantically typing on the computer. “I don’t know where it went wrong, but we have you booked for a room with a king bed instead of two queens.”

She groaned, running her fingers agitatedly through her hair. “Can we...be moved to a different room? One with two beds? I’ll pay the difference, it’s fine.”

The attendant shook his head, his dark eyes regretful. “I understand that there’s a dance competition this weekend, and there are a lot of people in town for it. Unfortunately, all our rooms are full, so this room is the only one we have.” He took half a step back, like he was afraid of what she was going to do to him.

Callum caught her hand, and she nearly jumped, turning her attention to him.

“Do you want to find a different hotel?” he asked. “Somebody’s got to have availability.”

“No, it’s fine,” she grumbled. Folding her arms, she stared down at the floor. “As long as you’re not too uncomfortable with it, I don’t have the energy to care.”

“I...uh.” 

Rayla glanced at him. He wasn’t looking at her, eyes wide and cheeks pink. He clearly wasn’t entirely comfortable. She sighed. “If you’re uncomfortable, we can find somewhere else.”

“No, I…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s fine, I just...you don’t think it’s weird?”

“Not really,” she replied flatly. “It’s a king sized bed, we each take our side and that’s that. It’ll be just like sleeping in separate beds.” Her mind drifted back to the plane, and she looked away from him again. “And it’s not like we haven’t slept in close quarters already.”

He chuckled, dissipating some of the tension she felt. “Alright, then we’ll take it.”

The (very relieved) hotel attendant checked them in and handed her their room key. They were quiet in their ride up the elevator and settling into their room. It was spacious and bright with a nice view of the small city below. The king-sized bed was in the middle of the room, and they had a kitchenette, a desk, and a chair with an ottoman.

Callum was the first to break the silence. “I can sleep in the chair, if you want,” he offered. “It’s big enough, and since I don’t need to be as well rested as you do-”

Putting a hand on her hip, Rayla pressed, “Callum, I told you, I don’t care if we share a bed. You’re free to take the chair if you want, but I can’t imagine that’ll be comfortable.” She gestured to the bed. “There’s more than enough room for both of us, with space in between. I’m perfectly fine, so it’s up to you.”

He paused for a moment, and she saw his eyes flick between the bed and chair a few times before he nodded. “Okay. Thanks,” and sat down at the desk, setting up his computer and drawing tablet.

Rayla couldn’t help but smile briefly at him while she took her dance bag out of her suitcase. She was glad that he liked the tablet so much and was getting a lot of use out of it.

Slinging her bag over her shoulder, she told him, “I’m going to go find the theater and get in some practice before tomorrow.”

He turned to her, eyebrows raised in surprise before they scrunched together. “Are you sure you don’t want to-”

“Nope. I don’t.” She didn’t need him to keep pushing her to rest. It was only noon. She had plenty of time to rest; there were another twenty three hours until the competition, and she wasn’t going to compete without a full night’s sleep anyway.

Callum looked between Rayla and his tablet before asking, “Do you want me to come with you?”

She shook her head. “Thanks, but it’s best if I go alone.” Crossing the room to him, she wrapped an arm around his shoulders, and his wrapped around her waist almost automatically. “You’re sweet, you know that? Too much for your good or mine.” She sighed. “Would it make you feel better if I promise I’ll be back by three?”

A smile forming on his lips, he nodded. “Yeah. It would. After three, no more practicing or thinking, we’re just gonna watch some TV and order dinner.”

“Sounds good.” She ruffled his hair as she let go of him, took one room key to tuck into her wallet, and left the hotel.

Her body was already protesting against her, with a lack of sleep, too much caffeine, and the cold winter weather. The only comfort she found was in the cold was the red scarf still wrapped around her neck, but that didn’t stop the fact that her movements weren’t going to be top-notch. She’d still be able to practice, but admittedly not as well as she would be able to if she had taken care of herself the way Callum and Ethari wanted her to.

Nothing a little more coffee couldn’t fix.

The theater was only a short walk from the hotel, and there was a Starbucks along the way. She stopped inside for her favorite double chocolate creme frap, then continued on to the theater. If she was going to be uncomfortable and annoyed, she might as well be able to have a sweet drink.

She wasn’t the only one in the theater. Many dancers had taken the opportunity to practice on site, just like her, so it looked inevitable that she would have to interact with other people. She tried not to audibly sigh as she found the dressing room she was to share with a few other dancers, hung up her coat, and swapped her boots for pointe shoes. Since she was already wearing leggings and a long sleeved shirt, she figured she could practice perfectly well in what she had on. For a moment, she considered if she should hang up the scarf along with her coat, but elected to keep it on. He had been right, she thought. Only a few hours ago, Callum had given her this scarf, and had his own in green, and she already didn’t want to take it off. It faintly smelled like him, and that was enough to still her mind, just a bit.

Putting her headphones in, Rayla found her way through the halls and came across an unoccupied practice room. She closed the door behind her and selected a playlist to stretch and warm up to. Stretching always helped her feel more like herself, no matter how ragged she was before. Loosening up her muscles, reminding her body that it was time to dance, was what finally got her to exhale and drop her shoulders. 

Once she was warmed up, she took another sip of her sugared drink, switched her music to the piece for her performance, and put it on loop. Part of her wanted to turn her back to the mirror so she didn’t have to watch every screwup in her routine, but it was best if she knew what still needed work.

Most of the mistakes she noticed were because of her decreased reaction time. They would go away when she practiced in the morning. After a few loops of her routine, she turned her back to the mirror. She was sick of watching herself. This way, she could just dance instead of watching while she did so.

She wasn’t even sure if her eyes were open while she danced. All of her focus was pinpointed on the music in her ears and the precision of her limbs. The dance itself was muscle memory at this point; she just needed to make sure that she didn’t get sloppy with it. She couldn’t afford to get sloppy. She wasn’t going to get second again. Not this time. This time, she had every intention to win.

After finishing another repetition, chest heaving and sweat dripping down her face, when the music was just about to begin once more, a hand landed on her shoulder. She jumped, roughly grabbing the wrist and twisting around to sweep the person’s leg out from under them in a maneuver that Runaan had taught her years ago.

The face staring back up at her in a glare was that of Kasef, the last face she wanted to see. The same person against whom she hadn’t been able to win for years.

Rolling her eyes, she let go of his wrist to let him tumble to the floor as she paused her music and crossed her arms.

“That’s a hell of a greeting,” Kasef snarled, picking himself off the floor.

With a shrug, she replied flatly, “You shouldn’t sneak up on me. That one was a warning. Do it again and you’ll get worse.”

He scoffed at her. “I was just saying hi, but remember that if you hurt me, you’ll be disqualified.”

“Maybe disqualify yourself from this room, the door of which was  _ closed _ , and you let yourself in without permission.” She gestured to the wide-open door.

“You’re terrible company.” He crossed his arms. “I guess I’ll just have to talk to your dad tomorrow. He’s way nicer than you, and he actually likes me.”

Holding up one finger, Rayla started, “First, no he doesn’t, he hates you almost as much as I do.” She added another finger. “Second, Ethari’s not with me this time. Callum is. And he won’t put up with you.”

“Callum?” Raising his eyebrows in question, he asked, “Can it be true? Standoffish Rayla finally got a boyfriend? I’ll have to meet him.”

She took a step forward, her eyes narrowing. “If you go anywhere near Callum, I’ll tear you apart. You’ll never dance again.”

“Wow, if I never dance again, maybe you’ll finally win a competition.” He turned to leave the room, veering toward the mirror where her coffee was.

Just before his foot made contact with her coffee to knock it over, she swept it out from in front of him and shoved him out of the room before closing the door behind him. So began the worst part of every competition.


	15. Spin You Around

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayla gets some much-needed rest.

The door to the hotel room opened suddenly, and Callum jumped. Seeing Rayla entering the room, he glanced at the time - it was already three? He’d really lost track of time. At least she’d had her eye on it and was back, instead of working herself too hard.

As he opened his mouth to ask how practicing went, she announced, “So people are going to think we’re dating.”

He clamped his mouth shut while he absorbed her words and tried to formulate a response. After a second, he managed, “I...guess we should’ve expected that.”

She groaned and flopped down on the bed, shoving her shoes off her feet. “I dunno if I ever told you, but I’ve got a rival.”

“You told me that you consistently get second to the same person,” he offered, saving his drawing and closing his computer.

“Yeah, his name’s Kasef, and he’s an asshole. For some reason, he sees my hatred of him as a game, and has decided that antagonizing me is fun, so I had to deal with him today. I was just trying to get him to leave, and you came up, he assumed that you’re my boyfriend, and I was more concerned about keeping him  _ away _ from you, so I forgot to deny that we’re dating.” Sighing, Rayla rolled onto her stomach to look at Callum, tucking her arms under her chin. “Knowing Kasef, he’s gonna spread the word around that oh, the unfriendly Rayla finally has a boyfriend, and make everyone believe it. Now, I’m not going to feed into the rumor, and I’m not asking you to pretend to be my boyfriend. I just want you to know what you’re walking into.”

Callum couldn’t help the soft laugh that escaped him. She had only had about two and a half hours to be around other dancers, and there were already issues with them.

“I mean, if Kasef will stay away from you if he thinks you have a boyfriend,” Callum started, “then I won’t deny it outright. I’ll stick close to you and try to keep him from harassing you as much as I can.” With a shrug, he said, “But if someone else asks if we’re dating, I’m gonna say no.”

“That’s fair,” she replied. “But also, I doubt anyone’s going to ask, since, first, performers love to gossip instead of get the real story, and second, we  _ do _ happen to be sharing a room with one bed. So unless  _ you _ deny it, which you absolutely can, then there’ll be a lot of people assuming we’re a couple.”

_ Don’t read into it, Callum _ , he told himself. She wouldn’t deny it herself because she wanted to ward off Kasef. It wasn’t like he was unfamiliar with this sort of situation. He’d been a fake boyfriend for Claudia once or twice, but only for a few minutes. Was he supposed to treat this similarly? Was he supposed to ignore that it was happening at all, and just accept it? This wasn’t the sort of rumor he would particularly mind, but was it good to let a rumor about Rayla make its rounds like that?

Did it really matter, though? After tomorrow, he likely would never see any of those people again. And when she next saw them, she could easily just say that they broke up. It was an easy thing not to deny. People had been assuming from the beginning that they were dating. All he had to do was stop correcting them.

“Not a problem,” he told her, flashing a smile. “Don’t worry about that, you don’t need anything else stressing you out.”

With a scoff, she muttered, “You got that right,” then gestured to his computer. “How’s the drawing coming on that spiffy new tablet?”

“It’s good!” he replied, then stood up to stretch. “I tried to work on a new commission I got, but that...didn’t happen.”

She raised an eyebrow. “And what did happen? Seems like you were drawing the whole time I was gone.”

“I was. I ended up drawing my muse again. Sleepy Rayla just waking up from a nap was something that I’d never seen, and I decided to draw it.” At least he didn’t feel the need to hide from her that he loved drawing her. Though it did feel like the room suddenly got a lot warmer, and he wasn’t quite able to meet her eyes.

“Careful, Callum.” She sat up, pointed for him to grab his laptop, then patted the bed next to her. “You keep drawing me and calling me your muse, and I might start buying into Kasef’s rumor that we’re dating.”

He laughed - what else could he do? - and complied, bringing his computer over to the bed and leaning against the headboard. “Wait, that was just a rumor? Man, I was already convinced.” She could stand to make the whole situation easier for him, but apparently, she was electing to do exactly Not That.

As he opened his computer (and Rayla gushed over his half-finished drawing of her), he pulled up Netflix.

“Any shows you’ve been dying to watch?” he asked, turning to her.

“I think the real question,” she began, a wicked smile making its way onto her lips, “is how much anime you’ve seen.”

He closed his eyes. That certainly made the situation easier for him. “Rayla, have you been a closet weeb this whole time?”

A laugh came from her, and wow, even while he was disillusioned by her watching anime, she still managed to tug at his heart and melt him where he sat before she even said anything.

“‘Closet’ is hardly the word,” she chuckled. “I don’t know how it hasn’t come up, but yes, I’m a weeb.” She snatched his computer from his lap, and before he could protest, she assured him, “I won’t show you anything super weird. Do you want something that’ll make you cry and wish you were never born, or something that’ll make you question all morality?”

“What are you-”

“Answer the question, Callum.”

His mind raced with a slew of questions and panic about what these shows could possibly be, but he eventually answered, “Morality, I guess?”

“Wise choice, you’re not ready for Clannad. Do you want a main character who decides that murder is okay, or one who decides that murder isn’t okay?”

He couldn’t help but laugh. “What kind of a question is that?”

Narrowing her eyes at him, she insisted, “Murder. Okay, or not okay?”

“Not okay.” Best to play it safe, he supposed.

She grinned and turned back to the computer. “Fullmetal Alchemist it is.”

Oh, boy. Next thing, she would be dragging him to conventions in full cosplay or something. This was a slippery slope, and he very much wanted to stay on the not-weeb end of things. But this was inevitable from the moment he became friends with her.

And unfortunately for him, the show was  _ good _ . It didn’t take long for the characters to pull him in and get him attached. Fictional characters usually didn’t make him feel anything, but the dynamic between the brothers was enough on its own to make him reflect on his relationship with Ezran and pour all of his hope into their story.

After only the fourth episode, Rayla paused the show and pulled out her phone, announcing that she was hungry.

“Where do you want to order from?” she asked.

Gesturing feebly at the screen, Callum cried, “You can just...order food after  _ that _ ?”

“Yeah. What kind of pizza do you want?”

“But...but Nina’s…”

“Mhm.” She laid down with her head in his lap, grinning up at him. “I’ve watched this plenty of times before, I’m immune.”

Putting his hand on top of her head, he leaned down a few inches and whispered, “Why did you do this to me?”

“So you can share in my pain. I’m ordering pepperoni, is that okay?”

“It’s fine,” Callum sighed, slumping down. “We’re gonna watch more though, right?”

With a smirk, she reached up and tapped his nose. “Who’s a weeb now?”

“Still you. This is the only anime I’ve ever watched.”

“Don’t worry, there’ll be more. Had you said that murder was okay, we would’ve watched Death Note. We’ll build up to that one.”

As promised, once they were equipped with pizza, they continued to watch. While Callum didn’t necessarily want to admit how invested he was getting in the story, it was difficult to hide it, especially after he broke down over Nina. He had to hand it to her, Rayla had some pretty great taste in TV.

It wasn’t terribly late by Callum’s standards when he felt Rayla go limp against his shoulder. At the end of the episode, he shut off his computer and nudged her. She didn’t wake up, so he inched his way out from under her, easing her down under the blankets to sleep, then shut off the lamp next to her and ducked into the bathroom for a quick shower and to brush his teeth.

When he came out of the bathroom, careful to turn the light off before he opened the door so it wouldn’t disturb her, she was in the same position he’d left her in. She must have really passed out.

Smiling to himself, he crawled into bed, leaving a few feet of space between them. It was impressive, he thought, that she fell asleep on him so easily, and was so comfortable with sharing a room. She was comfortable with  _ him _ . 

He rolled on his side to face away from her and try to sleep. But a few minutes proved that his mind was way too active to do that. He wouldn’t be able to sleep for a while, and it was definitely because of the wonderful girl nearby.

She’d chosen him. From the start of their friendship, she chose him. She decided to befriend the awkward boy who fell on his face, instead of have her free hour to herself. She asked him to come shopping with her when she was frustrated with being around Runaan and Ethari. She opened up to him about her anxiety over the competition, and asked him to stay with her through it. She leaned on him for support, and brought him with her, showing how much she trusted him. She was confident enough in their relationship that she would share a bed with him and trust him not to violate her space. She was letting him in, in more ways than one.

Frustrated that all these thoughts wouldn’t let him sleep, he shifted again to face her. There were slivers of light coming in through the closed blinds from the city outside, casting the dimmest of halos around her white hair. Her face was peaceful, instead of contorted in concentration like it had been so frequently. He could hear the faint, even sounds of her breathing as she slept, just a short distance away from him, one hand up near her face, resting between them. He resisted the urge to take her hand. She trusted him not to touch her. So he wouldn’t. Not in any way, no matter how innocent. There was nothing but admiration for her bouncing around in his mind. How could he feel any differently? She was wonderful.

She was wonderful, and he wasn’t going to survive tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Valentine's Day, have some Rayllum!
> 
> For the record, the other half of the anime flowchart is "characters dead or alive?" with "dead" going to Angel Beats and "alive" going to Clannad.  
> Also, any modern Rayllum I write is just going to become Fullmetal Alchemist propaganda, so. If you haven't watched it. Do That.


	16. I'm Really Feeling It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning of the competition, Rayla goes to the theater early.

Rayla’s alarm pulled her out of sleep at six in the morning.

She groaned and rubbed her eyes, then looked to her left to make sure the sound hadn’t woken Callum. He was still sound asleep, facing her. She could tell even while he was still lying down, that his hair was messier than she’d ever seen it. She smiled, brushing her hand over his as she got herself out of bed.

After a short shower, she layered her practice clothing under street clothes so she could walk to the theater without worrying about the cold. She tied her hair into a messy bun and put on a hat so it wouldn’t freeze, wrapped her new red scarf around her neck, then slipped on her shoes. It was when she grabbed her costume and was about to step out the door that she heard Callum stir.

“Rayla?” he murmured, turning to look at her. His eyes were only half open, and he had a sleepy, lopsided grin on his face.

She took a few steps toward him and whispered, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

“S’okay.” A hand reached out and caught her coat sleeve in a gentle hold. He tugged her just a bit closer. “You’re gonna dance so good today.”

Her heart warmed - she could have sworn that it melted right out of her chest. He was much cuter than she expected early-morning Callum to be.

She leaned toward him. But only a few inches before she stopped. Where had that impulse come from? If she’d let herself lean down to him, her lips would have made contact with his forehead. Even if he was still half asleep, there was no guarantee he wouldn’t remember it. Of all things, after spending the night next to each other, a kiss anywhere near his face was not necessary.

“Thanks, Callum.” She gently removed his hand from her sleeve, brought it to her lips and placed a kiss on his fingers instead. “Go back to sleep. I’ll text you the information for the theater, and when you need to be there to do my hair.”

“‘Kay. Bye, Ray.”

His eyes were already closed again by the time she left the hotel room.

The winter air was bitterly cold, nipping at her skin the moment she stepped outside. It didn’t do much to put her in any sort of good mood, but at least she had that mental image of Callum to carry with her through the day.

And...the knowledge that she’d had an impulse she’d never had before. That was something she needed to figure out, but there wasn’t time to worry about it today. She had to focus on the competition. She had to  _ win _ this time.

She stopped at the Starbucks on the way to the theater and ordered a black coffee. She didn't feel like waiting for her frap, and she definitely needed the caffeine boost. As she waited for her order, she texted Callum the information she promised him, and shoved her phone back in her pocket, trying not to think too much about him. Which proved difficult, as the scarf under her nose had the slightest traces of his scent, bringing her mind back to him whenever she tried to push it elsewhere.

He was sweet. He was wonderful to be around, and she couldn't have picked anyone better to come on this trip with her. Ethari knew how to calm her down when she was worked up, but it didn't always work. Callum's mere presence soothed her. She didn't even remember at what point she had fallen asleep the previous night, but she did know that she was leaning on him when she did. It wasn't often that she fell asleep with other people around. She had to be completely comfortable with the person in order to sleep with them nearby - to the point that she stopped going to the sparse sleepovers she was invited to when she was younger.

Yet she had fallen asleep  _ on _ Callum on the plane, and then spent the night right beside him. That said...a lot for how safe he made her feel.

She nearly jumped when the barista returned with her coffee. She thanked them, taking the coffee, and continued on to the theater.

The moment she arrived and set her things down in the dressing room, she took off her street clothes, leaving on her scarf and practice clothes underneath, and put in her headphones. Taking a long sip of coffee, she grabbed her pointe shoes and trekked down the hallway to find an empty practice room to warm up in, idly wondering if the rooms had locks so she could keep Kasef out. If he bothered her again, she couldn't guarantee he would leave unharmed, and she couldn't afford to be disqualified.

One room she passed by had a door that was set ajar. She pushed to open it a few more inches and pop her head in to see who was there. And immediately retracted, trying to get down the hall as quickly as she could.

Unfortunately, Kasef had seen her, and before she could take more than a couple of steps, he was at the door, calling her name.

She groaned, taking out one earbud. " _What_ ? I was just looking for a practice room. You should shut the door when you're using one."

He smirked and folded his arms, leaning against the wall. "Why're you here so early, Ray?"

"Don't call me that."

"You didn't want to spend more time with your boyfriend? You didn't even bring him with you to practice?" It was like he didn't even hear her when she spoke.

Rolling her eyes, she replied, "He's still asleep? It's seven in the morning, what do you expect? For him to sit here with me for four more hours before the competition starts? There's no reason for him to be here."

"To be a supportive boyfriend?" He shrugged. "Or to help you emotionally come to terms with the fact that you're going to lose. Again. Unless you've gotten so used to it that you've already accepted it."

She shook her head. "You know what? I don't have the energy to deal with you right now. I'll see you at the gala after you've lost." She turned on her heel and put her earbud back in, continuing her search for an empty practice room.

Unfortunately, these rooms didn't have locks. If she had any luck, Kasef would leave her alone, but it didn't look like she had full control over that.

She stretched, letting her frustration with him leave her body as she prepared to dance. Everything was going to be fine. She already felt better than she had yesterday, after getting enough sleep and being around someone who was making her take better care of herself than usual.

As she went through her routine, she kept in the front of her mind all of Opeli's comments on her routine as it developed. She refused to dance facing the mirror, focusing instead on how each movement felt. It was going to be pristine. This was going to be the most flawless performance in her life. It was only a pity that Runaan and Ethari couldn't be in the audience to see it. Maybe Callum would be kind enough to record it for them. They would be proud of her, not only for working so hard to make this performance perfect, but for finally, _finally_ showing Kasef what she was made of.

There was movement in the corner of her eye as she pirouetted, and she stumbled, surprised that someone was in the doorway, and hoping that it wasn't Kasef. When she stopped and removed an earbud, however, she saw a grinning Callum by the door. He was holding a coffee in one hand and a bag of food in the other.

"What time is it?" Rayla asked. How long had she been practicing? Was it that close to the competition already? She told him to arrive by ten so he could do her hair - it wasn't that late already, was it?

"Nine thirty," he replied, holding the items in his hands out to her. "Breakfast sandwich and a double chocolate creme frap. Since you've got an hour and a half before the competition starts, it's best if you eat now."

She smiled and nodded. "I'll eat after going through my routine once more, okay?"

"Alright." He slid down the wall to sit on the floor. "But I'm gonna stay right with you to make sure that you do actually eat."

"What did I ever do to deserve you?" she laughed, putting her earbud back in and restarting the music.

And like it usually did, the knowledge that he was right there helped her to drop her shoulders and breathe, a smile coming more easily to her face. He was there for her. And she was going to win this competition. For a brief moment, it wasn't about winning for herself. Or for Opeli, or for Ethari and Runaan, or even to show Kasef up. For a moment, she was dancing for Callum, and Callum alone.

Halfway through her routine, she saw another presence in the room, and Callum stood up. Whoever it was, Callum could handle them and tell them that she needed to practice without them disturbing her.

As she made a turn in her dance, the presence became the clear image of Kasef. She had to focus all of her energy into paying attention to her dance, instead of him. She didn't need to argue with him, she needed to rehearse.

So she ignored him and continued practicing. She was almost done with the piece, and when she finished, she could drag Callum somewhere else to eat and for him to do her hair.

She closed her eyes, though she heard Kasef saying something to her that she couldn't make out through the loud music in her ears. Whatever he was saying, she could guarantee it didn't matter. So she kept her headphones in, and stepped into a fouette.

And something made hard contact with her ankle, sending her careening to the floor as she cried out in pain.


	17. Spotlight Shining

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum's anxiety builds - will Rayla be able to dance?

It wasn’t until he heard the door creak that Callum realized he’d left it ajar while he sat on the floor of the practice room. He tore his eyes away from Rayla and looked up at their visitor - a young man wearing his dark hair back in a bun. His intense eyes flicked between Callum on the floor, and Rayla, dancing in the middle of the room.

“So you’re the boyfriend, then?” he drawled. “You’d think she’d be polite enough to at least introduce us.”

Callum raised an eyebrow and gestured to her. “She’s kinda focused on dancing right now. You can introduce yourself just fine.”

The dancer rolled his eyes and started toward Rayla, saying, “The least you could do is acknowledge that I’m here, maybe a ‘Hi, Kasef, this is my boyfriend.’”

Startled that he would try to interrupt her in the middle of her routine, Callum scrambled to his feet and took a few steps forward to pull Kasef back.

But he was too late. As Kasef shouted, “I’m  _ talking _ to you!” he kicked his foot into Rayla’s ankle while she was mid-pirouette. 

She screamed as she fell, and Callum winced as though he was the one who had gotten hurt. That scream would be burned into his memory. He wanted to step back, cover his ears to avoid hearing her in pain, pray that it was a nightmare, this wasn’t really happening. Kasef wouldn’t be that much of an ass to actually hurt Rayla. He wouldn’t. This couldn’t be real, that scream wasn’t real.

It only took him a moment to recover before he rushed to Rayla’s side, glaring up at Kasef.

“Get out,” he shouted at him. “I don’t want to see you anywhere near her again. Get the hell away from us, or I swear, I will-”

“Callum,” Rayla said through gritted teeth. “He’s not worth the effort.”

Kasef spun around and left the room, and Callum turned his attention to Rayla, quickly and gently untying her pointe shoe to ease it off her foot. He looked closely at it, comparing the ankle Kasef had kicked with her uninjured one. They looked the same, but Callum wasn’t a doctor - he wasn’t qualified to say if she was seriously hurt or not.

Before he could tell her that they needed to get her ankle looked at by a professional, she snapped, “It’s fine. I’m  _ fine _ . It’s not a big deal.” She moved her foot around, then grimaced.

“You’re  _ not _ fine,” Callum insisted. “He  _ hurt _ you, and you’re just going to say that it’s fine?” He wasn’t a violent person - he never had been - but every cell in his body wanted to chase Kasef down and punch him in the face. Give him a black eye, do anything to hurt him like he hurt Rayla.

“He hurt me,” she confirmed, easing herself to her feet, “so he should be disqualified.”

“What does that matter if you can’t dance?”

She smiled at him. But there was something different in it. That wasn’t her usual smile. She looked almost _vicious_ as she told him, “Oh, I’ll dance,” then took a step. At that step, she inhaled sharply, squeezing her eyes shut, and muttered, “I’ll just...need your help for a few minutes, first.”

She put her arm around his shoulders, and as he wrapped his in turn around her back to support her, he took a moment to assess her. She was about his height, maybe an inch taller, but she was thin. He might not be the strongest person, but she couldn’t have been more than a hundred and twenty pounds soaking wet.

Without giving it another thought, he handed her the coffee and bag of food sitting on the floor, then bent his knees and swept his free arm behind her legs, scooping her up.

She squeaked in surprise, and said, “You don’t have to!”

Luckily, he was right that she didn’t weigh much, despite knowing that, as a dancer, she had a lot of hidden muscle on her. 

“I’m keeping you off that ankle as much as I can,” he informed her. “Tell me where to take you.”

He followed her direction to the common area, where some dancers were already in costume, some were doing hair and makeup, and some were snacking. Gingerly, Callum set her down in an available chair, grabbed another one, and dragged it over to her, motioning for her to prop her foot up on it. What else did he need to do? What could he do to keep the injury from getting worse?

“Ice,” he blurted, turning back to her. “Where can I get ice?”

Rayla pointed to a fridge in the corner of the room and said, “There’s water in there. It should be cold enough to work.”

Callum bounded across the room to the fridge and took out a bottle of water. It was definitely cold enough to substitute for ice for a bit. That was good, and just enough to calm his mind for a minute.

When he returned to Rayla and put the water bottle against her ankle, she was thanking another dancer who was walking away.

“That’s Ava. She’s going to get my bag from the dressing room for me,” she explained. Her shoulders were so tense. “You’re going to put Ethari’s teaching to the test and do my hair.”

“Right.” 

It was impressive that she had so much confidence in him for this. He certainly didn’t feel ready to do a proper ballerina bun, but when Ava returned and delivered Rayla’s bag, and she handed him the things needed to style her hair, he moved behind her to begin. He took her hair out of the regular messy bun and started brushing it out.

“Hey, speaking of Ethari,” he began, “do you think we should call him or Runaan and tell them about your ankle? They might know how to help-”

“Absolutely not.” Her answer was rushed, almost panicked, even. “They’ll come and personally murder Kasef - I’m not joking - and I don’t particularly want my family to have any more of a criminal record than they already do. We can tell them when we get home, but right now, they don’t need to know.”

He nodded, though she couldn’t see it, and elected that now was not the time to ask about her family’s criminal history, instead simply saying, “Okay,” and refocusing his attention on how to best take care of Rayla. Ezran used to get the occasional injury when he was younger, and Callum would help him out before he figured out how best to take care of himself as a dancer, so he at least had a little bit of experience in taking care of similar injuries.

“Thanks for the coffee,” Rayla said, her voice surprisingly calm for the situation at hand. She took a sip, then exclaimed, “You remembered my favorite!”

Feeling his face heat up, he chuckled. “Of course I did. You have a sweet tooth for the double chocolate creme frap.” His fingers trembled as he smoothed her hair and put it into the initial ponytail and put the piece in her hair to shape it.

He worked quietly on her hair, focusing all of his attention into making it as smooth as he could. It wasn’t going to be as good as Ethari’s work, but maybe it would be good enough. Hopefully, it would be good enough. Though, in his opinion, anything less than a perfect job wasn’t nearly good enough for Rayla.

Several minutes and a million bobby pins later, he was convinced that it wouldn’t get any better, and maybe it wasn’t horrible. For someone who didn’t have a lot of experience with hair, it was better than he expected it to be.

“How’re you feeling?” Callum asked, sitting down in a third chair when he finished her hair.

She bit into the breakfast sandwich and shrugged. “I can still dance. I’ve danced on worse.”

“I hope not too often,” he muttered, running an anxious hand through his hair. “You could seriously mess up your ankle like that and not be able to dance anymore.”

“Not often,” she confirmed, slumping down in her chair. “And usually not right before going onstage for a competition. I’m usually able to take it easy.”

A few beats of silence passed between them as Rayla took small bites of her sandwich, and Callum wrung his hands together, staring at the floor. How was he more nervous about this than she was?

“How are you so calm?” he blurted. “Like, I’m not trying to make you nervous, but how is it that you’re so level-headed when he just ruined everything?”

She looked him in the eye and flatly said, “That part of my brain’s shut down. I can’t afford to be nervous right now, so that system’s just...off. It happens sometimes before competitions. Don’t worry, I’ll probably have a nervous breakdown after I dance.” As if it was the most casual thing in the world, she simply popped the rest of the sandwich into her mouth and took another sip of coffee.

With a chuckle, Callum shook his head. “That’s one way to make sure you don’t panic, I guess.”

She nodded, glanced at the time on her phone, and took out her makeup. She didn’t put on a lot - just enough to bring out her eyes with bright stage lights on her.

“You should probably get into the audience soon,” Rayla suggested, rolling her ankle around before slipping her pointe shoe back on and tying it around her ankle. Callum couldn’t help but notice that it was starting to swell.

Raising his eyebrows, Callum asked, “Don’t you want me here with you? To help you out? I can watch you from backstage, it’s fine-”

“And  _ I’m _ fine,” she insisted, getting to her feet. She alternated pressure on each foot to test out her ankle, then took a few steps away from him and launched into a few pirouettes on her bad foot. There was a trace of pain on her face, but she gave him that same determined grin that she had earlier. “I can dance.”

Callum sucked in a breath, then sighed. “Okay.”

“If you want to help me get to the dressing room,” she said, “I won’t say no.”

He didn’t need to be told twice. His arm was around her back in a moment to help support her weight as she hopped to the dressing room alongside him. Outside the door, he released her, and had to tear his arms away to let her go. Everything in him wanted to stay by her, not let her out of his sight. He just wanted to make  _ sure _ she was okay.

“Thank you,” Rayla murmured, and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder for a moment before it slipped around him and she pulled him into a hug. He could hardly breathe as he held her tightly. It didn’t matter what she said; he was going to worry about her, especially when he couldn’t be at her side.

She pulled away and said, “I’ll see you afterward,” then slipped into the dressing room to get changed.

Callum turned to head into the audience. The first dancers weren’t due onstage for another fifteen minutes. He could sit in his assigned seat and wait, hoping that everything really would be okay.

Or he could do something.

He marched toward the auditorium. If one dancer hurt another, the aggressor would be disqualified. And he had every intention of making sure that happened.

The judges had a table in the front, and lucky for him, all three were already there, going through papers that probably had dancer information, and each judge had a name tile in front of them.

Usually, Callum would have avoided them and let them work. Usually, he would have shrunk away. Usually, he wouldn’t try to talk to them even when they weren’t working.

Rayla was hurt. This wasn’t usually.

He approached the table and declared, “Kasef hurt Rayla.”

All three judges looked up at him, each with equally surprised expressions.

The man, whose name tile read ‘Aaravos,’ asked, “Do you have proof of this?”

Callum stuttered for a moment. “What? I - uh - proof, do you mean, like, a video? I didn’t catch it on camera or anything, but I saw him do it, he kicked her foot out from under her, and she’s still planning to dance on an injured ankle.” Their expressions didn’t change. He begged, “You have to believe me, Rayla’s  _ hurt _ .”

One of the women, whose name was Khessa, sighed. “What’s your relationship to Rayla?”

He didn’t answer right away. How was he supposed to answer? There was no right thing to say.

Khessa prompted, “There’s a rumor of Rayla bringing her boyfriend. Is that you?”

Gritting his teeth, he replied, “Yes. That’s me.”

With a nod, she asked, “Did anyone else see it happen?”

“I’m not lying to you,” Callum insisted. “I’m not, I wouldn’t lie about this. I was the only person there with them, but I swear, it’s the truth.”

The other woman, Lujanne, put up a hand. “We’re aware of a rivalry between Rayla and Kasef. We’ll look into it and see what we should do, but we will take your word into consideration.”

He let out a sigh. At least that was something. “Thank you.”

Aaravos nodded and gestured to the stage. “The performances will be starting shortly. Enjoy the competition.”

Nodding, he went to take his seat. Since his ticket was a complementary one because he came with one of the dancers, his seat was close to the front, and he got a clear view of the dancers.

The tap dance solos were first. A blonde girl not much older than Ezran had a great solo (Callum would be surprised if she didn’t win her division), and his mind drifted to his brother. Ezran would kill it in competitions. He was really good, and could easily win, or at least place in the top three. But he didn’t want to compete, so Callum knew it wouldn’t happen, no matter how good Ez was. There was no doubt that he would befriend all of his competitors and apologize for winning against them

He zoned out for a while until he heard Rayla’s name. She stepped gracefully out onto the stage, wearing a costume made of different shades of blue, with silver accents and a belt of gold beads around her waist. From this distance, her hair looked great, but he couldn’t be sure if it was because of his handiwork or if someone else fixed it before she went onstage.

She wasn’t limping, and a brilliant smile was on her face, brighter than the lights shining down on her. It was subtle - likely no one but him was even capable of noticing - but her eyebrows were just slightly pulled together in the smallest grimace. To anyone who wasn’t close to her, she looked perfectly fine, uninjured, and happier than anything to be onstage. The pain must have been killing her.

Yet as the music began, it filled her as though it was the air in her lungs. The music lifted her onto her toes, and she looked like she was simply  _ floating _ across the stage. Callum had seen this dance dozens of times, and it was amazing every time, but seeing her there onstage, a spotlight following her, in a costume he’d never seen, was something different entirely. She was ethereal and resplendent, more dance spirit than she was human. He couldn’t wait to joke with her again about being a mysterious spirit. Once he got his words back. He was certain that it would be a while yet until he was able to speak again. All he wanted to do was look at her, watch her for the rest of his life. She was beautiful. She was perfect.

And as though her dancing itself wasn’t enough, her smile...oh, her smile. That expression he’d tried to capture in his drawings - the one of freedom and joy, of determination and excitement, carefree but focused - it was there on her face again, but so much more intense. Her love of dancing would win out over an injury any day. She was only marginally more hesitant with her dancing, and only once, when she pirouetted on her left foot instead of her injured right, and put her right foot back down, he saw her falter for only a second. Then she was back into her proper headspace to finish her performance.

She curtseyed with all the grace of the spirit he was sure she was, and exited the stage.

From all of Ezran’s recitals, Callum knew it was bad manners to leave his seat before all the performances were over. But he was up in a moment, his eye catching the judges’ table, where the blonde tap dancer was whispering to them, and he rushed out of the auditorium so he could meet Rayla backstage and tell her just how wonderfully she danced, and how wonderful she was.


	18. Every Heart In The Room Will Melt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Awards are given at the competition.

Sitting back in the seat she occupied while Callum did her hair, Rayla screwed her eyes shut and held an ice-cold water bottle against her ankle, trying not to scream in pain. It pierced through her, the joint throbbing. She removed her ballet slipper the moment she sat down, as her ankle was starting to swell, and the ribbons were intensifying it. Dancing only made it worse. And it wasn’t even a great performance. She decided at the last second to fouette on her left foot instead, and that threw her off. It was messy. Even if they did disqualify Kasef, there was no chance of her getting first, and it was her own stupid fault for thinking she could dance just fine on an injury. Now it was going to take longer to heal.

She took a slow breath in, and let it out, focusing her attention on breathing evenly instead of on the pain. She’d had worse. But that didn’t mean that this didn’t hurt.

The sound of running footsteps made its way into her consciousness, and she cracked her eyes open to look toward the sound. Callum was skidding to a stop by her side and dropping to his knees by the time she could even process it was him.

He didn’t say a word, but took the water bottle in one hand and her ankle in the other so he could inspect it. A squeak of pain escaped Rayla, and she squeezed her eyes shut again. Callum’s hand immediately withdrew from her ankle and took her hand instead. When she opened her eyes, she saw that he was furiously typing on his phone with his free hand.

“I’m looking for an urgent care,” he told her. “You need to get this looked at.”

She shook her head, letting out a slow breath. “I’ll go to a doctor at home. It’s fine.”

Callum looked up at her like she had sprouted another head. “Ray, it’s swelling, and it’s bruising. That’s  _ bad _ . We need to get you to a doctor.” He stood and held out his hands to help her up.

“Not yet,” she insisted. “I need to be here for awards. They’re going to be doing solo awards soon, and-” With a sharp inhale as pain coursed through her, she managed, “I need to be here until solo awards are over.”

He sighed, then sat on the table next to her. “Okay. Can I stay with you while you wait for awards?”

Propping her foot up on the chair across from her, Rayla put the water bottle back against the injury and nodded. “That would make things better for me.” The pain, while still intense, was less so with him next to her. She wondered why that was, but something from the back of her mind pulled at her and told her that she already knew. And had known for a while now.

After a few moments of silence, Callum’s quiet voice said, “You did amazing, you know. You probably don’t feel like you did, and I’m not a professional, but you danced beautifully. I’m really proud of you for working so hard. I just wish you hadn’t gotten hurt.”

Heat creeped up her neck, and she looked down at the floor, turning away from him. “Thanks. I don’t really think I’ll place, since my ankle affected my performance, but...it’s nice to hear that anyway.”

“The judges will give you what you deserve if they know what’s good for them.” There was a teasing lilt in his tone, and she smiled. 

A stage manager came over and told Rayla that it was time to wait in the wings for the ballet solo awards. She sighed, put her pointe slipper back on, and pushed herself up out of the chair.

In an instant, Callum was by her side with his arm around her back to support her. She gratefully accepted his help, hopping her way to the stage wing with him.

The nerves she’d been suppressing in favor of just barely holding herself together came rushing back into her mind. She wasn’t going to place, but she found, as she kept weight off her injured foot, that she was lightly tapping her toes against the floor, a nervous habit she’d caught herself doing a while ago. All those nerves shouldn’t be coming back to her - usually, she could accept that she did a bad job, and suck it up. This time, she tapped her foot and held onto Callum perhaps a little too tightly.

“Deep breaths,” she heard him whisper to her. How he managed to notice whenever she showed even the slightest bit of apprehension, she couldn’t tell. But however he picked up on it, she appreciated it. With a calming breath, she leaned her head on his shoulder.

“Before we begin to announce our winners,” a female judge with blonde hair began, “we received word that one dancer hurt another this morning. We were able to look into it, and are left with no choice but to disqualify Kasef.”

Callum’s arm around her tightened, just slightly. Had he told the judges what happened? Of course he did, he wouldn’t let that happen without doing something about it. She gave him a light squeeze around the shoulders to silently thank him.

Her mind filtered out most of the words the judges were saying, and even who walked onstage to accept the third place award. It was only when her name was being called that she resurfaced. 

She won an award.

Second place.

But not to Kasef.

She let go of Callum and put a winning smile on her face, stepping out into the bright lights to accept the award. The three judges grinned at her, and the white-haired woman handed her a silver trophy.

Without the microphone in her hand, the judge said to her, “We knew you were hurt before you danced, and you only stumbled once. You should be proud of yourself, Rayla. But also know when to take it easy. Don’t push yourself harder than you can go.”

“We can tell you worked long and hard on your piece,” the man told her. “It was a privilege to watch you dance.”

Tears nearly pricked at her eyes, hearing those words from the judges. She fought to keep herself together as she breathed, “Thank you,” and turned to the audience to curtsey before heading back toward the wing.

She kept her eyes on Callum to keep her focus off of her pain. He was beaming at her, bouncing on the balls of his feat, fidgeting with his hands like he was anticipating something. He was so cute as she watched him, excited and happy, when she didn’t even get what she had been aiming for all this time.

Just a few feet away from the curtains, her ankle faltered, buckling her leg under her. She managed to plant her good foot on the ground, but owed the fact that she didn’t fall on her face to Callum, who stepped out onto the stage to catch her. As she clung to him and he helped her back into the wing, she heard the judges announce that Ava had gotten first place. At least she hadn’t gotten second to Kasef again, but the next time she saw Ava, Rayla would have to tease her that they were rivals for life now.

The moment they were out of view of the audience, Callum’s arms were tightly around Rayla’s waist, and he lifted her off the floor, spinning her around. A wonderful, beautiful laugh came from his lips, mixed with a flurry of congratulations and praises. It was contagious. Despite the pain, despite not winning first, despite all the stress of the past two months, Rayla  _ laughed _ , simply because of Callum’s presence, and his overflowing, infectious laughter.

When he set her back down on the floor, her free hand immediately found its way to his cheek, and all she could do was grin at him. He leaned his forehead against hers, absolutely shining with joy. The longer she looked at him, at his gorgeous green eyes, the more her heart picked up. They were so close together, and so much had happened, and he was  _ wonderful _ , and...was that really what she had been feeling this whole time? Of course it was. How could it have been anything else?

How had it taken her so long to realize that she was in love with him?

It didn’t matter why she hadn’t realized before. What mattered was that she realized now.

Her hand slipped from his cheek to the back of his neck, and she tilted her chin up to press her lips into his. She felt him jump, but quickly relaxed into the kiss, and pulled her closer. 

It was short - much too short, in Rayla’s opinion - but it was enough to make the rest of the world melt away. The sounds of the audience, the stage just a few feet away, the trophy in her hand all disappeared, and the only thing in Rayla’s mind was  _ Callum _ . 

He was the first to pull away, hints of fear etched into his features as he opened his mouth to try to say something, but no sound came out.

“Was that okay?” Rayla whispered, her fingers finding the back of his hair.

He spluttered for another moment before he nodded and said, “ _ Yes _ . It’s - it’s  _ more _ than okay, it’s great, I - I…”

“Good,” Rayla cut him off, and she lightly grabbed onto his collar. “Because I’m not done.”

She didn’t need to pull him back to her for a second kiss. He eagerly met her halfway, and the point of contact between them was  _ electrifying _ . Bolts of lightning shot through her, revitalizing her, reminding her what it felt like to truly be  _ alive _ . For months, she had been living in a half-state of constant worry, but with Callum, his presence, his touch, it all melted away. He was the breath in her lungs, the spring in her step, the joy behind her dance. If being his friend was able to bring her to life, then  _ kissing _ him was something even more amazing than life itself.

Someone bumped against her from behind, startling her out of the dreamlike state. She blinked for a moment, remembering that they were still in the wing of the stage, only barely out of sight of the audience.

“We should probably move,” Callum chuckled sheepishly. There was a pink dusting on his cheeks, but he was just as vibrant as before - if not more so.

“I don’t have to be here anymore,” she told him, taking a step toward backstage before remembering, with a jolt of pain, that she was injured. With a wince, she said, “Let’s get some rest before the gala.”

Callum helped her back to the dressing room and called an Uber while she changed into her street clothes and gathered up her things. They walked out of the theater hand-in-hand.


	19. This is a Feeling I've Never Felt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They get a chance to talk and relax before the gala.

The Uber ride back to the hotel was short, and filled with one of the loudest silences Callum had ever heard. Rayla’s hand was firmly in his, and it felt  _ wonderful _ , and he had never noticed how small her hands were, but now he got to feel it for more than just a moment, more than just the little touches they had shared here and there while bringing her nerves down or running across a mall. Now he got to truly relish in the feeling of Rayla’s fingers in between his, hold onto the sensation of her thumb lightly stroking the back of his hand. His entire mind was filled with thoughts of her.

And of that  _ kiss _ .

He still felt the ghost of her lips against his, soft but insistent. She kissed him so confidently, like she was more certain about it than she was about anything else in her life. She  _ kissed _ him, and it was the best few seconds of his entire life.

How long had she been wanting to do that? How long had she felt the same way he did?  _ Did  _ she feel the same way he did, or was he reading too far into the situation? Was there a way to read too far into a kiss? There probably was, knowing him. Was he supposed to think that they were a thing now? Or did Rayla see it as something more casual? That thought made his heart drop into his stomach - he hoped that she didn’t see it as a casual thing that they could just forget about. But then again, her hand was still in his, and she was still smiling to herself, just a bit.

They arrived at the hotel and climbed out of the Uber to make their way upstairs. To their single hotel room. With one bed.

Callum felt a cold sweat come on, and silently promised himself that he was not going to let anything get out of hand. They had been fine last night, and they would be fine now.

The moment they entered their room, Rayla flopped down on her side of the bed and tossed a couple pillows down to her feet to prop up her leg, then checked her phone and let out a sigh.

“We’ve got a couple hours yet before the gala,” she told him with a grin. “ _ Finally _ , some time to relax.”

“Finally,” he chuckled, not quite able to look her in the eye. Stepping back toward the door, he said, “I...I’m gonna go find some ice for your ankle,” then slipped out of the room to head down the hall.

The ice machine wasn’t far away, so it didn’t take him more than a minute to fill up a plastic bag to bring back to the room. A thought briefly crossed his mind, wondering if the ice would possibly stop his face from feeling like it was burning. It probably wouldn’t. So it probably wasn’t worth it to try.

He returned to the room and wrapped the plastic bag of ice in a hand towel from the bathroom to press against Rayla’s ankle.

She winced and inhaled sharply, but let out the short breath and muttered, “Thanks.”

“Of course.” He kicked off his shoes and sat cross-legged on the bed, facing her. There was a short silence in which he tried to force himself to look in her eyes - but nope, he couldn’t do it - before he quietly prompted, “So...we should probably talk about what happened back at the theater.”

“What about it?”

His gaze snapped up to meet hers. She looked so calm, like nothing was different, like she really had no idea what he wanted to talk about. His heart was going to pound out of his chest, and she seriously asked him what about the kiss he wanted to discuss?

“Wh-uh...I mean...everything?” he sputtered. “We-we should really talk about, like...how we feel about each other?”

With a shrug, Rayla replied, “I thought I was pretty clear about how I feel about you, and since you said that it was ‘more than okay,’ I think you were clear too.”

He let a light laugh slip out of him. “I mean, yeah, that was pretty clear, I think, but do you know what’s even more clear?” When she raised an eyebrow at him to answer, he leaned a few inches toward her and whispered, “Communication.”

“Fiiine,” she groaned, her head knocking against the wall. “Alright, let’s talk about  _ feelings _ .”

And his mind was blank. What were they supposed to talk about to make sure they were on the same page? He never experienced this before. Once upon a time, he had a heart-to-heart with Claudia about her not reciprocating his feelings, but never once had he ever been in a conversation that involved someone feeling the same way about him.

“Have, uh…” He wrung his hands together. “Have you felt that way for a while?”

Her cheeks began to tinge pink. “I think so. It took me a while to realize it, but...yeah. I’ve liked you for a while.”

A grin made its way onto his face. He couldn’t help it - hearing those words come from her was even better than he thought it would be.

“And what about you?” she returned, her eyes not meeting his. “When...when did you fall for me?”

He ducked his head. It was easy to hear Rayla say that she liked him, but telling her what was in his head...that was different. Still, he managed, “I, uh...well, remember when we first met? And I accidentally just...stared at you? Well…" He rubbed the back of his neck and gave her a sheepish smile. "I was enthralled right off the bat."

She laughed, and it sounded a little more restrained than usual, but she was positively shining with happiness as she teased, "Right away, huh?"

"I mean, I didn't try to!" he rushed. "You were just so cool and confident, but I was convinced that you were out of my league, so I decided to be your friend instead."

Laughing again, she replied, "Leagues are stupid, and we're both dorks. You never needed to worry about it."

"I realize that  _ now _ , but when we met, all I could think about was how cool you are."

"That's because I am cool."

He shook his head, grinning. His entire being was trembling, but he wasn’t sure if it was because he was scared or excited. He was definitely excited, but this was so new and strange. And he was going to be able to explore these new feelings  _ with _ Rayla.

Reaching out to take her hand, he asked, “So we’re more than just friends now, aren’t we? What are we going to be?” Before she could reply, he rushed, “I don’t want to pressure you into anything. I mean, I like you a  _ lot _ , and I’d  _ like _ for us to be in a relationship, but if you’re not ready for that, or you don’t want it, then I completely understand, and I respect-”

“Callum.” 

He met her eyes. Those wonderful, gorgeous violet eyes that he fell for months ago, before he even let himself truly feel it. 

Then, with all the surety in the world, she said, “Be my boyfriend.”

All the air left his lungs. His spirit was thrown into space, and hurtled through the cosmos before landing back in his body, his lungs constricting, but not in the way they usually did when he panicked. This was a breathlessness that he gladly welcomed.

With a smile that he wasn’t sure would ever leave him, he whispered, “Okay.”

“Okay!” She grinned back at him. “Are we done talking about feelings now? Can we watch some Fullmetal Alchemist before we have to go be fancy?”

“Absolutely.” He reached into his backpack to take out his laptop, then sat close to her, leaning his head on her shoulder while he turned his computer on. Waiting for it to wake up, he asked, “Should we tell our parents when we get home that we’re a thing?”

She snorted. “We can tell  _ your _ parents whenever you want. But we’re not telling Runaan and Ethari for a while. If they find out that we shared a room  _ and _ kissed, it’ll be a complete scandal. They’ll never forgive either of us. They’ll call my parents home from Europe just to yell at me.” With a shrug, she admitted, “Though, once they’re done being mad, they’ll love you.” Callum laughed, but Rayla quickly sat up to look him in the eye. “I’m serious, Runaan would drag my parents home just so they could yell at me.”

“Oh.” The thought of it was funny, but he was sure that the practice of it wouldn’t be nearly as hilarious as he was finding it. “We’ll just tell my family then. Or maybe we’ll wait on that too, since Ez is going to be rubbing this in my face for the rest of time.”

Snickering, she asked, “How early did he start trying to get us together?”

“Day one.”

She burst out laughing again, hard enough that she had to lean forward and hold onto her stomach. When she settled back again and put her arm around Callum, she chuckled, “What a kid. Maybe we’ll hold off on telling him outright, but this is absolutely an opportunity to drive him crazy, making him guess whether or not we’re together.”

“Absolutely. My mom’ll figure it out really quickly though, so we’ll let my parents in on it and they’ll help us tease Ez.”

“I’m so ready for this.”

They managed to get through three episodes of Fullmetal Alchemist before Rayla looked at the time and began whining that they needed to get ready for the gala. The best thing for both of them would be to stay in the hotel and rest up - the last thing Rayla needed was to be on that foot any more - but she assured him that they didn’t have to stay for more than a couple of hours.

As she stepped into the bathroom to get into her dress, Callum checked his phone. He had a new email from Spire University.

Either way it went, he needed to make sure he didn’t distract Rayla too much from the events of the night. She needed to focus her energy on talking to talent scouts and playing herself up to them.

He held his breath and tapped the email to read it.

_ Dear Callum, _

_ We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to attend Spire University for the spring term. _


	20. Eyes On You, Eyes On Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gala does not necessarily go as planned.

The Uber driver to the gala location was kind enough to make a stop at Starbucks for them. Rayla was absolutely not going into a fancy event without another hit of caffeine, so she drank her coffee as quickly as she could. 

Her ankle was feeling a little better after icing it for a while. She could walk on it, and she would be able to do the choreographed dance, but it certainly wasn’t going to be pretty. 

She rolled her ankle to try and keep mobility, and when she felt a twinge, she turned to Callum and said, “I’m definitely going to be sitting at every available opportunity. Hope you don’t mind.” She silently hoped that the talent scouts wouldn’t see her as weak or fragile, since she couldn’t be on her feet.

Like he sensed her apprehension, Callum wrapped his arm around her and told her, “If anyone tries to give you a hard time for not being on your feet, then they’ll have to go through your  _ boyfriend _ about it.”

She snorted. “No offense, but you’re not much of a threat. It’s like getting threatened by a puppy.” The Uber driver snickered at that as they pulled up to the venue.

When they clambered out of the car, Rayla gave the driver five stars with the comment “laughed when i roasted my boyfriend.”

The moment they walked through the doors, she felt Callum freeze. The room was large and open, with a long table across one wall, full of food and drinks. Plenty of tables and chairs were set up on the side of the room near the food, and the other half of the room was an open dance floor. Chandeliers were high above them, casting a soft glow over the people in attendance.

Rayla had been to a few events like this. She was used to it. Callum had likely never been to an event any fancier than a junior prom.

“Okay, uh…” Callum looked around the room and tugged her toward a table. “Let’s, um, get you sitting, and then I can bring you whatever you need. Are you thirsty? You just had coffee, you’re probably not thirsty. What about hungry? I can bring you something to eat if you want, and-”

“Callum.” As she sat, Rayla caught his hand and pulled his attention to her. “Chill. Come sit with me, and I’ll tell you if I need something.”

He took the seat next to her and dropped his shoulders, giving her a meek smile. “Sorry, I’m just not used to this sort of thing.”

“It’s fine,” she assured him, squeezing his hand. “All you need to do is stick with me and look pretty.”

With a cheeky grin, he replied, “I think I can manage that.”

Except that wasn’t the only thing he had to do for her. They had only been sitting for a few minutes when she was summoned to the dance floor for their choreographed dance. She felt a pang of guilt - they only practiced that once with Ethari. Callum wasn’t nearly prepared for this. It was already going to be bad, given her condition, but knowing Callum, he would beat himself up over it if he messed up.

Callum was rigid as she pulled him along, and when she looked at his face, she saw his eyes were wide. He had gotten her through so much panic in the past couple of months - it was only right for her to return the favor.

“Hey.” She put a gentle hand on his cheek, bringing his attention to her. With a smile, she quietly told him, “It’s alright. This isn’t the dance that matters, and the scouts won’t be paying any attention to you. Just have fun with it, okay? Focus on me.”

He softened, then placed his hand on her back to pull her closer. “I could focus on you forever.”

Feeling herself blush, she let out a light chuckle, then leaned her forehead on his shoulder for a moment. He gently pulled her closer.

Rayla never felt, growing up, that she didn’t have a home. She loved living with Runaan and Ethari. She loved when her parents were around. She knew that, at home with her family, she belonged.

This was different, though. She was happy where she lived and with whom she lived, but she never felt quite so at home as she did in Callum’s arms. She found a new home, and it was the best possible one she could have ever found.

The music began, and she stood up straight, making eye contact with her wonderful partner. They mirrored each other’s grins as Rayla began to count and whisper the steps to him in reminder. His movements were hesitant, and he was the farthest thing from graceful. He remembered the steps well enough, but the steps weren’t what made a dancer.

It wasn’t like she was much better. She favored her left foot, and she stumbled more than once - Callum had to catch her, and bring her back home to his arms.

For once, she didn’t care about the ever-watchful eyes. She didn’t care about the judging gaze. All she cared about was the one person in front of her. The one person she couldn’t take her eyes off of. He made her heart soar. He supported her weight to help her dance. He didn’t need to try to keep her attention - and it looked like she didn’t need to try to keep his. A large smile was on his face, looking more relaxed and carefree than she had seen him look in a long time. Finally, it was just them. They were all that mattered.

As the dance came to a close, Rayla felt her ankle weaken. She hardly had time to process what was happening before she was careening toward the floor.

Callum caught her, of course, but didn’t immediately straighten her up. He kept her in a dip for a moment, making her giggle. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulled him closer to kiss him.

They straightened. She curtseyed, he bowed, and they made their way back to the chairs they’d claimed before the dance.

“You asked me in October for an extravagant date,” Rayla mused, nudging Callum as they sat. “Is this extravagant enough for you?”

He laughed heartily - threw his head back, and let out the sound like he had never laughed quite so hard before. As his laughter died down, his hand found hers, and he brought it to his lips.

“This is more than extravagant enough,” he told her. “Any day with you is extravagant enough for me.”

She opened her mouth to reply when another voice interrupted.

“Bet you’re proud of yourself, aren’t you?”

At the snarl, Rayla grimaced and reluctantly turned her attention to Kasef, who was standing before her, seething.

“I could’ve gotten first if my ankle wasn’t messed up,” she replied dryly.

“Oh sure,” he snapped. His voice was loud enough that the people around them started to quiet and listen in curiosity. “You could’ve gotten first because you  _ framed me _ . You had to stoop to that level? The only way you knew you could beat me was if you  _ lied _ , so you faked an injury to get me out of the way. Then you  _ ran _ after the competition so you didn’t have to face me. Just admit it, Rayla, you’re a coward who can’t even admit that she’s not a good dancer.”

Raising an eyebrow, Rayla spat back, “I’m sorry, who the hell screwed who over?” She lifted the hem of her skirt and held her discolored ankle out for him to see. “You think I faked that bruising? You think I faked an injury just to win? Sorry to break it to you, Kasef, but you’re not worth that much effort. I didn’t even place first.”

“Just goes to show how stupid you really are, thinking it’d get you anywhere.”

She couldn’t even begin to reply before Callum was standing to shout, “Shut up!” His hand was balled at his side, and she could see that he was trembling. “Just shut up, you  _ asshole _ ! You can’t  _ deliberately _ hurt my girlfriend and then pretend like you did nothing wrong! You  _ planned _ to hurt her. Why else would you have done it in a practice room with just the three of us? It’s a miracle the judges believed me, because you deserve nothing less than disqualification.”

“This isn’t about you,” Kasef said, stepping closer to Callum. Rayla braced herself to get between them when she saw how tightly he had clenched his fist. “This is-”

“It’s about how I saw you hurt her,” another voice interjected. Rayla’s eyes snapped over to a young tap dancer that she distantly knew as Aanya, who approached them, arms crossed. “It was lucky that I was walking by when you kicked her leg out from under her. Her boyfriend was the first to go to the judges, but I must not’ve been far behind.”

Kasef sputtered for a moment, then turned again on Rayla. “I’m gonna make you  _ regret _ this-”

“Shut the hell up.” Rayla stood, eyes narrowed. “I’m sick of putting up with you. Just accept that you got what was coming to you, and leave us alone.”

He glared back. “I should’ve destroyed you years ago.”

“Why?” Callum stepped closer to him, and part of Rayla wondered if she needed to hold  _ him _ back from getting into a fight. But knowing Callum, he would never throw a punch. So she let him continue, “Your whole rivalry is so stupid. What did Rayla ever do to you? From what I’ve seen, all she’s done is exist and dance. There’s no reason for you to hate her so much - you can’t hate her for being amazing.”

“She-”

“She  _ is _ amazing,” Callum insisted before Kasef could continue. “She’s incredible, and she’s talented, and she works hard, and she’s funny and smart. She’s a beautiful dancer, and has a beautiful heart. I love her, and I love watching her dance, and I love how many things she’s good at, how much she’s  _ worked _ to be good at. You can’t hate someone for being good at what they love.”

Rayla gaped. She hadn’t expected any of what he said, at least not this quickly. His words rang through her ears, reverberating and repeating, over and over, telling her what he said so easily, so surely.

He loved her.

Kasef turned on his heel and stalked away, likely knowing that they weren’t going to let him get another word in. It was pointless for him to argue with this weirdly confident Callum, and it was pointless to try to get the judges to go back on their ruling.

As people muttered about what just transpired, Rayla’s trembling fingers found Callum’s. She couldn’t have expected his declaration, but it wasn’t unwelcome. 

When she took his hand, Callum turned to her, and all anger melted away from his face. He offered her a gentle smile, squeezing her hand in his.

She sat down again, guiding him to sit with her, and managed, “I love you too, Callum.”

His eyes widened, and his entire face lit bright red. “Wh-wait, I - did I? I didn’t mean to say...did I really say that?”

With a laugh, Rayla nodded. “You just announced it to the whole gala. I didn’t think that you telling off my dumbass rival would be how it was first said, but either way, that doesn’t change that I feel the same way about you.” She leaned over to him and planted a kiss on his flushed cheek.

“I didn’t think our relationship would move this fast,” he chuckled, casting her a glance. “Not that I mind.”

Rayla shrugged. “Our relationship’s always progressed at weird rates. Just a few days ago, I wasn’t sure if we were close enough to have you over at my house, but we were already planning for you to come out of town with me. So whatever. I love you.”

He beamed back at her with a light in his eyes that made her fall in love with him all over again.

“Excuse me, Rayla?”

At the new voice, Rayla turned to look at the person approaching her. A professional-looking woman in her thirties stood in front of her, a polite smile on her face. 

“I’m a talent scout,” she explained, “and I’d like to talk to you about auditioning for the troupe I work with.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok you know the wait is getting to be a little much when the AUTHOR is getting impatient to post. So yeah uh. These next chapters will be coming pretty quickly.


	21. Can I Hold You Real Close?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Exciting news is exchanged as they talk of the future.

“Can you believe it!” Rayla squealed as she unlocked the door to the hotel room and hopped inside. It was at least the fifth time she’d said that phrase since talking with the talent scout, but she was so happy that Callum couldn’t possibly tell her to stop repeating it when she said, “I have an audition! For  _ Giselle _ , of all shows!” She spun around on her good foot before plopping down on the bed, beaming up at him.

“It’s so exciting!” Callum replied, removing his jacket. “I’m really proud of you, Ray, this is fantastic!”

“No more corralling little ones to remind them what first position looks like,” she laughed. 

As she kicked her shoes off and shed her coat, she quieted. Usually, that wouldn’t be weird. But she hadn’t stopped talking about the audition for the past hour and a half. There was hardly a moment of silence between them since the scout introduced herself.

Curious, Callum turned to look at her. Her face had traces of dejection as she looked down at her lap. Where had that come from?

“Hey.” Callum sat next to her, taking her hand. “What’s up? Aren’t you looking forward to this?”

“Of course I am!” she exclaimed. “This is all I’ve wanted for years, to dance with a troupe. But…” Her eyes flicked up to meet his gaze, then away again. “That troupe isn’t based anywhere close to home. I would have to leave.”

It would mean they would be apart. But how much did distance matter, if she was achieving her dream?

Callum shrugged. Maybe the distance between them wasn’t even what she was worried about. “You’ll do great in a new place. You deserve the chance to explore.”

She turned toward him, looking at him more intently as she squeezed his hand. “Callum, you know that’s not what I mean. I can leave home no problem, it’s not the place keeping me there. I want  _ you _ \- I just got you, and now I might have to leave.”

He sighed, absently stroking his thumb over the back of her hand. “Yeah. And being apart from you will suck, but I think we can make it work. And…” Reaching into his pocket to retrieve his phone, he sheepishly told her, “It’s not just because of  _ Giselle _ that we’ll be apart for a while.”

With a raised eyebrow, she asked, “What do you mean?”

It was time to tell her. He unlocked his phone and opened the acceptance email from Spire U, then handed his phone over to her, trying to hide the trembling of his fingers.

She quickly scanned the email, and her eyes tripled in size. “What - Callum, you got in?” She looked between him and the phone a couple of times as Callum nodded, and she threw her arms around him. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner? This is great!” Pulling away, she exclaimed, “We have to celebrate! We - we need ice cream, or something! Is there anywhere that delivers sweets around here?” She furiously started typing on his phone to find somewhere to order from.

Callum laughed and wrapped an arm around her. “You’re acting like me getting into Spire U is the only thing here to celebrate. You kicked Kasef’s ass  _ and _ got an audition!”

“Exactly, so we  _ need _ to celebrate. There’s an Insomnia Cookie nearby, and I’m making the executive decision that we’re getting like a dozen.” It only took moments for them to place an order for delivery.

As soon as she put his phone down, Callum took her hand to redirect her attention back to him. Softly, he said, “Ray, you know that Spire U is out of state. So even on the off chance you did stay home instead of going to perform, we’ll still be apart.” Her face fell, and he rushed to tell her, “We can make it work. I know we can. It’s just...a question if we’re willing to put in the effort.”

She fell quiet, looking away from him. After a moment, she questioned, “Do you really think we can do it?”

Callum couldn’t answer right away. He’d heard both good and bad stories about long-distance relationships, but it all came down to who they were as people. If he worked while he was in school, he could save up the money to visit Rayla, wherever she ended up. And he had faith that she would visit him too when she had the time. Either way, even if they couldn’t visit all the time, they could always video chat. It wouldn’t be the same, but he could make do with it. He couldn’t speak for her, but he felt strongly enough about her that he knew he would be able to do it, if they just put in the work.

“I think we can,” he eventually replied. “I’m willing to try. It’ll be difficult, for sure, but what’s stopping us? We’ll figure it out, and I think that if we try, then we’ll grow together more than we think we will.” Letting silence pass between them once more, Callum asked, “Are you willing to try?”

With a snort, Rayla replied, “Bold of you to assume I wouldn’t do literally anything for you.”

“Well, not  _ anything _ ,” he chuckled.

“No, I mean it.” As he looked in her eyes, he didn’t see a trace of the usual glint she got in her expression when she joked. “‘Assassin’ as a very real job prospect for me when I was fifteen. I was serious about it, and Runaan was ready to support me all along the way. Ethari was the one who talked me out of it.”

Laughing, Callum joked, “Well, mark me down as scared  _ and _ horny!” He placed a kiss on her temple and whispered, “I want to know everything about you, Rayla. I want to know all about your assassin days, and I want to know about what you were like as a kid, and I want to meet your parents….”

“Do you really?” she said dryly. She clearly meant it as a joke, but Callum heard the bit of hope in her voice.

“Yes,” he assured her.

Her cheeks flushed and she buried her face in the crook of his neck. He chuckled and pulled her closer.

Within minutes, the cookies were delivered, Rayla changed while Callum retrieved them, and they were back in the room, sitting on the bed and feasting in celebration. They had barely eaten a couple of cookies each by the time he saw Rayla starting to fight for consciousness, her eyes closing for a few moments before she jolted herself awake again.

“Let’s go to bed,” Callum suggested, easing her to her feet. “You’ve hardly slept all week.”

She nodded, her head lolling to the side as she did so. He stood her up and led her to the bathroom so she could brush her teeth.

Callum took his turn in the bathroom to get into pajamas and ready for bed, and when he emerged from the bathroom, Rayla was already in bed, facing him. He turned off the lights and crawled in as well, face to face with her.

Her eyes were half closed, and the dim light made it hard to see them, but even so, he could see the light in her eyes - a happiness so bright that it lit the entire room up again. It lit  _ him _ up.

He laced their fingers together, and he pressed a kiss to the back of her hand before breathing, “I’m so in love with you.”

She closed her eyes, and a smile caressed her lips. A second later, she shifted closer to him, placed a kiss on his lips, and tucked her head under his chin, whispering, “I’m in love with you too,” so quietly that he could hardly hear it, but so sincerely that his heart swelled. He held her closely, and was asleep in seconds.


	22. They're Playing Our Song

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayla and Callum return home.

Rayla slept on Callum’s shoulder for most of the plane ride back home that Sunday morning, catching up on some much-needed rest. He didn’t seem to mind, as he kept his arm around her and let her keep leaning on him.

She was just awake enough when they landed to be able to lead Callum through the airport and retrieve their luggage together. And since she left her car at the airport, there was no need to wait for a ride. All that was left to do was drop Callum off at home.

Though, after spending so much time with him over the past few days, she didn’t feel ready to let him go yet. Not to be apart for a few days, and not to be apart for months on end. The fact that they wouldn’t be able to spend all of their time together was in no way ideal, but somehow, they would muddle through.

As they pulled into the driveway of Callum’s house and he grabbed his things from the car, he nodded to the front door. “Do you want to come in for some coffee? Your body must be dying for it after how much you had this weekend.”

She rolled her eyes, but nodded with a grin and locked the car before catching his hand to follow him inside.

It wasn’t quite noon, so it was a toss-up if anyone was awake or not. Ethari and Runaan loved to be up before the sun, even on days they didn’t work, but she doubted Callum’s family was the same way. They probably valued their weekend rest.

But, of course, as they walked in the front door, Sarai, Ezran, and who Rayla assumed was Harrow sat in the living room. All three pairs of eyes landed on them, then shifted quickly to their joined hands.

Ezran jumped up, pointed at them, and cried, “I  _ knew _ it!”

Callum sighed, but Rayla let out a chuckle, asking him, “I guess we have some explaining to do, huh?”

“Yeah,” he confirmed, pulling her over to the couch to sit down. Gesturing to Harrow, Callum introduced, “This is my dad. Dad, this is Rayla. Obviously, you know, the one I was just out of town with.”

“The infamous Rayla,” Harrow began, a teasing lilt in his voice as he smirked. “Pleasure to meet you. Callum talks about you _constantly_ .”

“ _ Dad _ .” His cheeks flushed red, and he ran an anxious hand through his hair.

“Aw, babe.” Rayla leaned her head on his shoulder and grinned up at him. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you had a crush on me.”

“We’re literally dating.”

“And?”

He rolled his eyes and kissed her on the nose.

“I knew it,” Ezran muttered.

“Yes.” Callum sounded exasperated at his brother as he turned back to his family. “This is my  _ girlfriend _ , Rayla.”

Excited, she tapped his arm a few times. “Callum! Callum, tell them the other news!”

“Oh, right!” He lit up and announced, “Rayla got second place, and she has an audition with a ballet troupe!”

“Not that news, dummy!” She lightly hit him on the side of the head. “ _ Your _ news.” Instead of waiting for him to tell them, she said, “Callum got into Spire U for the spring semester!”

A resounding cry of celebration rose through the living room, overlapping voices congratulating him in various words of happiness. The smile on Callum’s face stretched from ear to ear, but his shoulders were tense, like he wasn’t used to the attention and praise.

Her demeanor changing, Sarai ventured, “What about you two? If Callum is going to be so far away, will you be alright?”

“We talked about it,” Rayla confirmed. “I’ll probably be out of town too, so there’s no getting around the fact that we’ll be apart.”

“And we’re both willing to work as hard as we need to for this,” Callum added. “Video chatting, visits whenever we can. You know. The works.”

“Oh.” Harrow’s expression was one of genuine surprise. “You two are  _ serious _ about this.”

“I am.” As he turned to her, Rayla wasn’t sure if she had ever seen Callum so sincere. Her heart leapt with joy.

Leaning toward him, she gave him a quick kiss on the lips and whispered, “I am too.”

“You guys are  _ so gross _ !” Ezran exclaimed. 

With a chuckle, Sarai deadpanned, “But is it worse than seeing the way they looked at each other, insisting that they were just friends?”

Ezran paused for a minute, then mumbled, “Okay, yeah, this is better, but it’s still gross.”

As she laughed, Rayla felt her phone vibrate with a text, and quickly checked it.

_ [Runaan (11:32am)] Have you landed? _

“You have to go?” Callum asked, sadness in his features.

Sighing, she nodded. “Runaan’ll be tearing the airport apart looking for me if I don’t go see him and Ethari.”

“So no coffee,” he whined, leaning on her shoulder and eliciting another laugh from her. “I thought you were gonna stay for coffee!”

“I’d love to, you know that,” she chuckled as she shoved him off of her and stood, wincing as she remembered not to put too much pressure on her right foot. “But I don’t think either of us want to face the wrath of Runaan if we can avoid it.”

“Plus,” Ezran piped from across the room, “you’ve spent the last few  _ days _ with Rayla, leaving your poor babyest brother all alone!  _ I _ need time with you now!”

Gesturing to him, Rayla confirmed, “Spend time with your babyest brother before he dies of neglect. I’ll text you later.” She kissed the top of his head and said a brief goodbye to his family before ambling back out to her car.

_ [Rayla (11:36am)] i just dropped callum off, ill be home in a few _

She plugged her phone in to play some music for her drive back, and pressed ‘shuffle.’ As fate would have it, the first song to come through the speakers as she backed out of the driveway was the song she and Callum danced to at the gala. She’d heard it so many times over the past few months, usually with Ethari, but that dance with Callum, laughing and stumbling on the dance floor...that was the moment at the front of her mind, bringing a grin to her face. The moment she was going to remember forever.

She felt lighter than air. There was hardly any more room in her chest for how much her heart must have been expanding, full of pride from the scout’s contact information, and even more so full of love for the boy whose house she just left. Nothing else in the world mattered. From now on, it was going to be Rayla and Callum against the world. No matter what life threw at them, she knew, deep in her heart, that they were going to get through it together. They would be okay together.

When she arrived at home, Ethari met her outside with a hug, looking like he was feeling better than he had a couple of days ago. His eyes landed on the silver trophy in her back seat, and he looked as though he didn’t know whether to congratulate her or extend his sympathy.

“Carry this for me?” Rayla requested, handing him her dance bag. He slung it over his shoulder as she retrieved the trophy, and they walked inside together.

They barely made it through the door when Runaan pointed out, “You’re favoring your left foot.”

“Yup.” Setting her things down, she sat on the couch. “Sprained the right. Kasef kicked my foot out from under me while I was practicing.” Before they could jump to righteous anger, she rushed, “The judges found out and disqualified him. I got second because I faltered, and Ava got first. If I’m going to get second to _anyone_ , I’d rather it be Ava.”

“You shouldn’t have danced on that ankle,” Ethari said, his brow furrowed in worry.

Sighing, she replied, “I know. It was dumb, but I wasn’t just  _ not _ going to dance. And because I danced, I got scouted.” She grinned and expanded, “A director of  _ Giselle _ wants me to audition to join the troupe.”

“Rayla!” Runaan rushed over and enveloped her in a hug. “I’m so proud of you!”

“We’ll have to call your parents and tell them the good news!” Ethari added.

“Are you sure?” Rayla chuckled as Runaan released her. “You think they’re ready to accept the fact that their little girl is grown up and joining a dance troupe?”

“If Runaan can accept it,” Ethari teased, “then Lain and Tiadrin can come around too.”

Runaan rolled his eyes and asked, “How was the trip otherwise?”

She couldn’t suppress her smile. “Callum was really good to take with me. He took care of me, made sure I slept and that I’d eaten. He wouldn’t stop doting on me when I got hurt.” A chuckle in her tone, she said, “His dancing and ballet bun skills leave something to be desired, but I can’t fault him for that.” She chose to stop there, careful not to tell them just yet how much her relationship with Callum changed in the few days they were away. Runaan wasn’t ready to hear that yet.

As she caught Ethari’s eye, however, he had a knowing look that told her that he was already aware. And that he was happy for her. With a small nod, Rayla accepted his silent show of support, glad to know that he was so readily approving of this new love that she found.


	23. (Epilogue) Do You Think We're Ready?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Four years later, Callum is about to graduate from college.

Callum took decorations down off his dorm room walls and shoved them in a box. He was used to this song and dance of moving in and out of dorms, and was excited that at least he wouldn't have to deal with that anymore after graduation tomorrow. He only needed to move once more, at least for the next long while.

It had been a long four years of college, but he had  _ done  _ it. He survived art school, and his relationship with Rayla was stronger and better than ever.

Speaking of Rayla, he checked his phone, waiting for her text. She should be in town by now, what was taking her so long to tell him where she was?

A pounding on his door made him jump, and he crossed the small room to open it up and see who had such disrespect for his room.

He could hardly get his door open when the person on the other side of it was throwing their arms around him. It took him a moment to process the white hair that had flown into his face, and the familiarity of the embrace. He quickly encircled Rayla in a tight hug, lifting her up off the floor to spin her around.

As he put her down, she beamed at him with the brightest of smiles - her smile never stopped warming him from head to toe - and she placed a kiss on his lips, which he gratefully accepted.

“How was your flight?” Callum asked, tucking her hair behind her ear.

She rolled her eyes and shrugged. “It was a flight. Cramped. Boring. I think what’s more interesting is knowing how  _ you’re _ feeling.” Her expression shifted into excitement as she gripped his sleeves and pulled him into the room. “You graduate tomorrow!  _ Finally _ !”

“Finally,” he sighed. “I’m kinda nervous, but I’m so ready for this, to be out of school and start living out by you.”

“What’re the odds you’d get the perfect job offer ten minutes away from my apartment?” Rayla considered, and sat on his bed. “I’m  _ so glad _ that you did, though. I’m sick of being so far away from you.” She punctuated the statement by leaning her forehead on his shoulder.

“Me too. But starting next week, we get to step  _ together _ into the next part of our lives.”

She lifted her head up and took his hand with a smile. “How does spending the rest of our lives together sound to you?”

“That sounds  _ great _ ,” he chuckled. “I want to spend every  _ minute _ with you.”

“So that’s a yes, then?”

He paused and raised an eyebrow. “Uh...yes? What does that mean? I think it’s pretty well-established that I like you a lot, and want to be with you, unless there’s been a  _ massive _ miscommunication over the past four-”

“Callum,” Rayla cut him off, rolling her eyes. “I’m asking you if you’ll marry me.”

His heart stopped. All breath left his lungs. He could feel his mouth hanging agape as he stared at her and felt his hands begin to tremble.

“You don’t have to jump to answer so quickly,” Rayla muttered, a joking lilt in her voice. Her hands were trembling as well.

“No, I just…” He took a moment to remember how to breathe. “Ray, are you serious?”

She merely nodded. There were so many different emotions in her face that Callum wasn’t sure if he could read them all. There was hope, and fear, and joy, all of which were building in him as well.

“Yes,” he whispered. “Yes, of  _ course _ I’ll marry you.” He closed the distance between them and pressed his lips to hers. He could feel her smiling against him as her arms wrapped around him.

When they parted, Rayla laughed, “I’m really glad you said yes, because that also just kind of slipped out. I planned to propose tomorrow after the ceremony. I had a whole thing planned, your family was in on it. Guess I have to tell them that the plan’s off.”

“They’re going to be so worried if you don’t preface it with the fact that you proposed early,” he chuckled.

“Yeah, and then they’ll start swapping money, because there’s no way they weren’t taking bets on our relationship.”

“Oh, they were,” Callum confirmed. “Ezran already lost. His bet was that we’d be engaged before he finished high school, and he just finished his first semester of college.”

“Do you remember what Harrow and Sarai’s bets were?”

Callum thought for a moment, then shook his head. “No, but last I knew, neither of them had lost yet.”

“Then I’ll bet you that Sarai wins,” Rayla said with a grin.

“I’ll take that bet.”

“Okay.” Rayla popped to her feet and dragged Callum with her. “I’m hungry, let’s go get something to eat.”

He furrowed his brow, looking at his dorm room in disarray. “But I need to finish packing.”

“I’ll help you pack later,” she assured him. “And then I’ll help you move to my area, and I’ll help you with whatever you want, but right now, let’s get something to eat.”

Grabbing his wallet and keys, he teased, “You’ll help with whatever I want? So you’ll help me find an apartment?”

“Already did,” she said, opening the door for him. “I found you an apartment, and it’s also mine.”

With a grin, he put a hand on her waist to pull her closer and kiss her. “You’re the best, you know that?”

“So’re you. It’s what makes us such a great pair.”

They left his dorm building hand in hand. Callum felt like he was going to float away into the clouds. He was about to graduate college and spend the rest of his days with the love of his life. There was nothing but adventure and joy ahead for him. No matter how big or small the adventure, they would do it together.

His life was no longer about school or about jobs. It was about them.

He squeezed her hand and whispered to her, “I’m so excited for our lives to be all about us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap!
> 
> Thank you all so much for your support, this fic was an absolute joy to write, and it makes me so happy that you guys liked it!!
> 
> Someone did put the idea in my head for a oneshot of Rayla going to game night with Callum, Soren, Claudia, and Corvus (because I'm stubborn and I will continue to ship Claudia x Corvus literally out of spite). That'll definitely happen at some point, but I haven't started writing it yet. Keep your eye out for it! In the meantime, I have some fics for The Adventure Zone that I need to get out of my system lmao
> 
> Also, from that competition, Kasef developed a bad reputation as a dancer, and when he finally accepted that his dance career was going nowhere, he got an accounting associate's degree. His coworkers hate him because he's constantly talking about his glory days as a dancer.

**Author's Note:**

> [Come say hi to me on Tumblr!](https://little-red-alchemist-of-doom.tumblr.com/)


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